The Legend of Sonic: Twilight Princess
by Dream Dragoness
Summary: After an attack on Eggman, Sonic and Shadow find themselves in the land of Hyrule. There, they meet an unusual girl named Link and both find themselves vying for her affections. But when an unusual veil of twilight threatens Hyrule, the three must fight to save the mystical land from a terrifying evil.
1. Hyrule

**_The Legend of Sonic:_**

**_Twilight Princess_**

_Summary: Sonic gets thrown into the world of Hyrule after another fight against Eggman. While there, he meets a Hylian girl named Link, whom he instantly develops a crush on. But when Link's village is attacked and the village children get kidnapped, can Sonic help Link get them back and find out why her village was attacked? Who is the mysterious Midna? And why is Sonic a were-hog again?_

_I do not own The Legend of Zelda, or Sonic the Hedgehog._

_It's Twilight Princess with Sonic in it and Link is a girl._

_AN: The idea came to me through a similar fanfic that was deleted by it's author_

_

* * *

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_**Chapter 1**_

_**Hyrule**_

"Ugh…what happened?" groaned Sonic the Hedgehog.

An hour ago, Sonic was in space, stopping Dr. Eggman from reactivating the Eclipse Cannon on the Space Colony ARK. In order to do so, Sonic used the seven Chaos Emeralds to become Super Sonic and drained the cannon. But in doing so caused him to black out and to find himself in a forest that, as far as he could tell, is not native to Mobius.

"Where am I? How did I get here?" asked the blue hedgehog.

Looking around in the surrounding clearing within the dense forest, Sonic got up and brushed himself off.

"Well, might as well take a look around. Maybe I'll find someone that can help me."

He walked for five minutes until he came to a lake. Sitting on the shore of the lake was a middle-aged man and a girl about Sonic's age. Sonic was going to speak to them when he noticed that the two were not dressed in Mobian clothes and that the girl had elf-like ears.

_"Best not let them see me yet. Don't wanna cause a panic now."_ With the thought in mind, Sonic hid behind some bushes to the left of the pair. For some reason, he really wanted to see the girl's face. As he sat, he overheard the man talking.

"Do you hear them, Link? That's the sounds of the regrets of the ones who left this world. You have to have to be real quiet in order to hear them."

The girl called Link listened. "I think I can hear them, but…they sound sad." "That is the reason why loneliness pervades the hour of twilight."

_"Twilight?"_ mentally asked the blue blur.

"But enough of that." the man spoke.

"You know that I am to deliver the gift to the royal family of Hyrule in two days, right?"

"Right?" Link spoke.

_"Hyrule?"_ questioned the hedgehog.

"Well, I want you to go in my stead." the man answered.

"Huh? I thought the mayor gave the task to you?" Link asked. "

He did, but with the new baby on the way, I'll need to stay home with Uli and Colin."

"But, why me?" asked the girl, turning her head to look at the man. That's when Sonic saw her face.

She had short, blond hair; creamy skin, and a beautiful smile. But what caught Sonic's gaze the most was her eyes. Blue, beastlike, proud, and beautiful. Those eyes gave Sonic a unique feeling he had never felt before. He wanted to come out of hiding and meet with the girl in person, but the reality of the situation made Sonic stay in his hiding spot. He continued to listen.

"You have never been to Hyrule, right?" the man asked. Link shook her head.

"Well, in the center of the kingdom, there is a building called Hyrule Castle. That's where the royal family lives. And surrounding the castle is Castle Town and beyond Hyrule is the rest of the world that the goddesses created. As my best student and good friend, I want you to see it all. So will you?" the man asked.

Link gave it some thought before she came to the decision. "Well…if it's alright with the mayor, I'll go." answered Link, smiling.

"Alright then, it's settled. Let's head back to the village before it gets too late." said the man. "Is Epona around?"

"She's right here, Rusl." said Link, gesturing to her grazing horse. Sonic immediately saw Epona. The horse was a large work horse with reddish-brown fur and white mane and tail. Epona was equipped with her saddle and bridle, along with six bushels of branches, no doubt used for firewood.

Link and Rusl then stood up and began to walk away, unknowingly passing Sonic, who was still hiding in the brush. Link grabbed Epona's bridle and began to leave the area. As the three walked across a bridge over a ravine, Sonic then noticed that the man was closing a gate on the other side. He waited until the three were out of sight when he ran over and jumped over the gate.

Sonic then passed another lake to his right, this one he felt something odd was there. The hedgehog just shrugged it off as exhaustion. Sonic then headed into another area and hid behind a tree. He watched as Rusl left with a heavily pregnant woman and a little boy about eight.

_That must be Uli and Colin._ Sonic thought. He then looked toward his left, where Link was. She had climbed up a ladder and entered a house nestled in a large tree. Sonic immediately assumed that this was Link's house.

As Sonic pondered on what to do next, he spotted another girl coming from the entrance where Rusl and his family left. The new girl was also a teenager like him and Link. Sonic could only watch as she took Epona and left for the lake area he had recently passed. But before he could do anything, a boy who looked a couple of years older came from the village entrance. He stopped and yelled,

"Hey Link! Link!" Link appeared from the highest window and called down. "What's the matter, Fado?"

"I need some help wrangling the goats for the night. Lately, they're not listening to me. You and Epona mind?"

Sonic could see Link sighing and shaking her head lightly. "Alright, I'll be down in a few." The girl called. As soon as Link left the window, Fado noticed that Epona was missing.

As Link reached the ground, Fado spoke up. "Eh Link. Where's Epona?" Link then looked at where she left her horse and saw that she was gone.

Sighing again, Link gave her answer. "Ilia must have been here." She then turned to Fado. "I'll get Epona, and then I'll meet you at the ranch." Thanking Link, Fado left for the ranch. Link then left for the lake area.

Following Link through the trees, Sonic returned to the lake area. Sure enough, Epona was in the shallow water with the second girl he assumed was Ilia. Link entered the lake and spoke up.

"Hello, Ilia." Ilia looked up and saw her childhood friend.

"Oh, Link. I was washing Epona for you." Link smiled and spoke again.

"Thanks, Ilia." Link then told Ilia about Fado's request.

"I wonder what has gotten into them." Ilia said.

"I don't know. I just hope that they get better soon. I don't want to catch goats on my day off tomorrow." The Ranchwoman spoke.

Then Ilia got and idea. "Link, if it's not too much trouble, could you play that song that Epona likes. You know that she likes it."

Link nodded and picked horseshoe-shaped reed and began to play a song. As soon as Epona heard the song, she walked up to her mistress. Sonic was equally impressed at the song.

"I thought it would work." Ilia smiled. Link then hoisted herself onto the saddle and grabbed the bridle.

She turned to Ilia. "Thanks again, Ilia." After Link left Ilia, she rode on Epona into the village.

Sonic, not wanting to lose her, followed Link into the village. From what Sonic could see, the village looked like something from a history book or a fairy tale. The houses were made of wood and there was hardly any steel about, save for Rusl's sword. As Link rode on, she was greeted by the villagers. Sonic, impatient as ever, ran ahead, sneaking passed the villagers up to the top of the highest hill that overlooked the ranch. He waited a few minutes before Link came through the gate.

Fado greeted Link and closed the gate.

"Ready…Go!" Fado called.

Sonic watched as Link and Epona herded the large goats into the barn in ten minutes flat.

"Ten minutes," Fado called, "a new record!"

"I bet we can do better next time!" Link grinned.

"Do that and no one will beat you." Fado spoke. "I'll set up the jumping fences for you to practice. Just jump the gate when you're done."

"Thanks Fado and good night." Link called. Sonic watched as the girl jumped a few fences with her horse before she left for the night. For a few minutes, he too jumped the fences for his own amusement before following her again.

Sonic made it back in time to see Link entering the house for the night. The hedgehog looked around until he saw Epona. He walked up to the horse and, with Epona's permission, began to pet the horse's muzzle.

_I'll admit, this horse, Epona was it, seems to be pretty fast. Maybe I can race her one day as long as I'm here. Speaking of which, where am I going to stay the night?_

Sonic returned his attention to the tree he hid earlier. He then left Epona and jumped onto the branches of the tree until he found a spot at the nest of the branches. He watch as the last of the

light in the house finally faded into darkness.

_Maybe tomorrow, Link. Maybe we'll finally meet. _And with that, Sonic closed his eyes and fell asleep for the first time in Hyrule.

* * *

_My second published fanfic. I know Sonic seemed out of character at the moment, but he'll get better once he fights._

_No flames please._


	2. Forest Fight and a New Form

**Chapter 2**

**Fight in the Forest and a New Form**

When first light came that morning, Sonic awoke to the sound of children calling a name.

"Link! Hey Link! You awake?" called a boy's voice.

"Talo, it's her day off today! What won't you let her sleep in for once?" scolded a girl's voice.

The next voice was very faint, but Sonic knew it was a small boy.

The final voice was what opened his eyes. "Beth, don't worry. I'm already awake."

Sonic's eyes flared open as he heard Link come out of the house and jumped to the ground. Link eyed the children.

The brothers Talo and Malo; Beth, the shopkeeper Sara's daughter; and Colin, who was petting Epona.

Sonic listened in carefully as Link spoke to the kids. "Is there a problem?"

Sonic listened into the conversation. The kids save for Colin, were excited about a new slingshot that Beth's mother got in this morning. After the conversation, the three new kids left to talk amongst themselves.

While Link walked over to Colin and Epona. "You're interested in horseback, Colin?" asked Link. Colin nodded.

Then, Colin remembered something. Sonic couldn't hear what he said to Link, but as soon as the conversation was done, Link headed for the village. Sonic followed her through the trees, careful not to attract unwanted attention.

Link entered the village completely unaware of Sonic and made her way to the riverside where Uli was. The girl approached the pregnant woman as she noticed her distress.

"Everything alright, Uli?" Link asked.

The expecting woman looked to the girl and told her what had happened.

"The cradle I used for Colin floated down the stream as I was working on laundry. Oh dear. I was going to use that cradle for the new baby too."

Link then placed a hand on the woman's shoulder as she spoke. "Don't worry, Uli. I'll get it."

Uli looked at Link and smiled. "Oh, thank you, Link. You are truly a dear."

Sonic watched as Link climbed a stone pillar and looked around. Link spotted a beehive over the shopkeeper's house and pulled on a bird–like reed. She then blew a tune new to Sonic's ears and a hawk landed on her wrist. Sonic made a mental note on the reed and compared it with the reed Link used to call Epona.

Link then surprised Sonic by sic'ing the bird at the hive. The hawk knocked down the hive and the ground destroyed it. Link then jumped to the edge of the last stone pillar. She then spotted the cradle…in the hands of a monkey.

_What's with these monkeys lately? They've been pestering the village for a while now. Oh well, I still have to get that cradle for Uli._

Finding another hawk reed, Link called another hawk and used it to get the cradle from the monkey down the stream. The hawk returned with the cradle, allowing the girl to grab it.

Link then came down from the pillars and returned to Uli, who was happy for Link's kind deed.

"Thank you again, Link." As Uli spoke, she then remembered something important.

"Link, would you mind carrying the cradle and come to my house for a moment?" Link nodded in agreement and walked with Uli to her house.

Once there, Uli gave the Ranchwoman a fishing rod.

"Colin made this with his father's instruction. Sorry that it's a little unpolished."

Link just shook her head as she thanked the pregnant woman for the pole.

As Link made her way to Talo and Malo's house, she heard a familiar voice call, "Hey! A goat got loose! Look out!"

She then saw the goat charge blindly toward her down the hill that lead to the ranch. Casting the pole aside, Link stood her ground and readied herself for the goat. In a flash, she grabbed the charging goat by the horns, gained a stronger footing, and tossed the goat onto its side, calming it down.

Sonic was impressed that one girl could take down such a massive creature. It even got him to wonder if she could take down one of Eggman's robots.

As the goat slowly walked back to the ranch, Link had gotten her fishing pole when she noticed a familiar creature walking passed Talo's house.

_Is that…Moka?_

Moka was Sara's cat and according to Beth, Moka ran off earlier that morning after Sara scolded him.

Link then realized that the cat was eying the fish that were swimming in the small river that flowed next to the village. At having an idea, Link sat down next to Moka and used her new fishing rod to catch a fish, saying "I won't tell" to Moka.

A minute after she cast her line, the bobber sunk. She got a bit. Since she had no bait, Link knew that the fish was a Gillfish.

As soon as the fish was out of the water and off the hook, Moka quickly took the fish and ran back home. Knowing that the kids will ask constantly if she got it, Link went to the shop, seeing a happy Sara, and bought the slingshot. When she came out, Sonic saw what she had in her pocket and asked himself.

_Why would Link want a slingshot? Isn't she a little too old for that?_

Sonic followed her back to her house, where Talo, Malo, and Beth were already (mainly Talo) begging her to shoot at some targets with it. Needless to say, she made a series of bullzyes in a matter of seconds, proving to Sonic that she was an expert markswoman.

The children cheered on as the last target was destroyed by a single pellet. But then something caught Talo's eye.

"Hey! There's one of those stinkin' monkeys!" He then took up a stick and began to run after the monkey. "Come back here!"

Link, Colin, Beth, Malo, and Sonic took notice as Talo ran off. "

Talo, wait!" Link called.

She then remembered something. The forest was becoming even more dangerous by the day!

At this realization, Link quickly climbed back into her house and came back out with a wooden sword. As she jumped off, Link looked at the kids.

"You three, stay here!"

"Huh? But why?" Malo asked.

Colin answered. "There are monsters in the forest lately."

Link nodded as she ran down the path. "I'll be back!" Without another thought, Sonic followed, worried about the girl and the young boy.

* * *

As Link ran across the other side of the bridge, she could not help but feel that someone was watching her, following her. She was tempted to turn and see who was trailing her, but she knew that she had to catch up and stop Talo. So, she continued down the path. She then came across a small clearing…and a gate.

"I knew I should have brought Epona." Link spoke.

She looked around until she spotted the reeds she used to call her horse. Plucking one, she played the song, knowing that Epona would come at its call. Sonic nearly got trampled by said horse as he finished crossing the bridge, dodging just in time.

When Epona meet up with her mistress, Link climbed onto the saddle and snapped the reigns. "Heyah!" she called, telling Epona to move with haste as they jumped over the gate, with Sonic right behind them.

As he landed on the other side, Sonic spotted another small lake, similar to the on in Ordon. But, this lake seemed to be beckoning him, calling to him. Though he was worried about Link, Sonic figured he had enough time to check the lake out before catching up to her. As he approached, the lake began to glow. Cautious, Sonic slowly continued to inch his way to the shore, until it got so bright that he could not see anymore. As he covered his eyes, he heard a deep voice speak to him.

_"Hero from another world, you have begun to adjust to this land. But for you to save it with the new Hero of Hyrule, you must take another form."_

As the voice spoke, Sonic could feel his body shift and grow warm. He felt pain, but he also felt the warmth of the light easing what should have been an excruciating experience. Then, the light soon faded into shadow.

_"May the Goddesses bless you with a safe journey, young Hero."_

* * *

Link rode on, unaware of the light that came from the lake behind her. At the end of a short, open tunnel, she came across a fork on the path. On the left was another gate. One that needed a key. The right path was open, but something told her that it was not the path to take to Talo. None the less, she knew one man living on the right path that held the key to the gate.

She approached a small house on the path, seeing a man with an afro with a bird nesting in it sitting by an unlit campfire.

"Excuse me, I need a lantern, some oil, and passage to the deeper forest."

The man, Coro, immediately recognized her as an Ordonian and gave her order out…for a hundred rupees. As soon as the gate was unlocked, Link thanked Coro and told Epona to wait by the lake, where she would find her later, since she could not bring her into the tunnel that led to the deepest part of the Faron Woods.

As Link trekked through the tunnel, she lit the dormant torches and killed off a few keese, a couple of rats, and a couple of Deku Babas. Upon exiting on the other side, Link crossed the dry "pond" as she made her way to a temple, which was based in the center of the Faron Woods.

"Help! Help!" She heard a familiar cry.

_Talo!_

Sure enough, it was Talo, inside a small, wooden cage with the monkey he was chasing before. And guarding the cage were two Bokoblin, armed and dangerous. Swift as the western wind, Link ran over to the area and took out the Bokoblin and took the cage apart, freeing the monkey and Talo.

With the danger subsiding and the monkey running off, Link and Talo, after a bit of scolding on Link's part, found themselves back at the fork. Stopping for a bit, Talo looked at Link.

"Gee, if you hadn't come, Link, me and that monkey would have gotten eaten'…probably. T-that monkey was nice to me, Link. She was protecting me when we got captured."

"Well, Talo, I hope you have learned something today. Like, listen to you dad." Talo nodded.

"Um, Link? You won't…tell my dad. Will you?" L

ink was tempted, but she knew Talo had enough for now. "Alright, but if this happens again, you do realize that I won't keep that promise."

Talo nodded in understanding and ran back to the village.

But before Link could go to the lake to fetch Epona, a familiar voice stopped her.

"Link?" Link looked to the right path and saw Rusl coming her way.

"I heard about what happened to Talo from my son. But it looks like you took care of it."

"Not without difficulty." Link replied. A

fter some silence, Rusl spoke again. "Anyway, tomorrow is the day you will be leaving for Hyrule. I think I was doing something right when I left the task up to you."

With all of the excitement going on, Link had completely forgot about the delivery.

Rusl then chuckled. "If you're lucky, you might even get to meet the Princess Zelda. She might introduce you to a lord or someone of the like."

Link rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's go back."

However, as soon as the pair came to the Faron Lake, they noticed Epona was looking at something on the ground with interest.

"Hmm? What is it, Epona?" Link asked as she approached her horse.

But that question was soon answered once she was next to the horse, shocked.

"Rusl!" she called out. "There's a boy here!"

"What the…?" Rusl asked as he approached where Link was.

Indeed, there was a boy about sixteen, maybe seventeen, lying on the shore, unconscious and nude.

Link was trying not to blush at the sight, so she asked, "What do you think happened to him?"

"No wounds of any sort, maybe a head injury. Could be bandits."

He then noticed the boy's unusual hair color. "Never in my life have I seen hair like his. Dye, possibly."

As if on instinct, Link touched a lock of the long, spikey, blue hair. Soft, yet looked sharp.

_Beautiful._ She thought.

But the thought left her when she noticed the sun was setting. "I'll take him back to my house. Can you ask Uli for me to make some medicine in case of something?"

Rusl nodded as he ran back to tell his wife of the boy and the girl's request.

Link placed one of the boy's arms over her shoulder and helped place him on Epona. As soon as he was on, Link jumped on and, after making sure the boy was secure, rode back to her home.

* * *

_Finaly! I get the second chapter of TLoS: TP written and updated! Sorry for the wait, but I had school, demands for my Zim fic, and writer's moods and blocks to take care of. But I want to answer a few questins I've been asked about my story._

_1: Never, in all my life, will I EVER make one main character less than the other. Sonic and Link WILL be EQUAL partners._

_2: Link as the damsel in distress? Are you out of your mind! That's like saying Ganondorf won't take over the world again. NOt gonna happen and the d.i.d on Link would be blasphamas!_

_3: I'll try to keep the "aura" around Link as I possibly can. But this is a Romance/Adventure fic, so the talking stays._

_4: The only dungeon Sonic won't partake in is the Lakebed Temple. (He **is** afraid of water, after all)._

_5. For the Hight thing: Problem solved_

_Sorry if I seemed crabby, but I did say be gentle in the first chapter. I am still an amatur Fic author after all._

_My thanks to Juan LinkFlipnotehatena name for telling my in a indirect way that my fic is a good one._

_Anyway, please review and hold the flames please._


	3. Into the Twilight

**Chapter 3**

**Into the Twilight**

Weariness soon faded from Sonic as he felt the realm of the waking greeting him. As his eyes opened and his vision adjusted, he thought to himself.

_Ugh. What happened?_

As Sonic sat up, he placed his hand on his head, only to find that his stiff quills were replaced by something soft.

He took a look at his surroundings once his vision was clear before bracing himself. He noticed that instead of the forest where he passed out, he found himself inside a house of sorts. As he continued to look, he found that he was sitting in a soft bed, blankets covering half of him.

But it was then he noticed that his chest was different than before. Before deciding to look any further, Sonic then found a hand mirror to his right. He picked up the hand mirror and gaped at the person he saw.

In the mirror, he saw a human man of seventeen. He bore sharp, yet elegant, features that became his face. His blue quills had become mid-back long, soft, blue hair that still bore most of the spikiness of his former self. And his eyes were still the florescent green as they had been before.

Dropping the hand mirror on the bed, Sonic remained in shock.

_How the heck did this happen! Why am I a human?_

As he thought, he then remembered the incident at the lake. Was this what the voice meant when it said he needed another form to travel Hyrule? He looked at his bare, human hand as he contemplated the thought, only to be interrupted by the sound of someone climbing the ladder leading to the "bedroom."

Peering over the ledge was none other than Link, who had taken him in after she had found him. Once she saw that the mysterious man was awake, she spoke to him.

"Ah. I see you've woken up. That's good. I was bringing your breakfast, if you want any."

The growl in Sonic's stomach was a good cover for the blush he had on his face.

_Oh, man! What do I say to her? I certainly can't say "Hey, thanks for the save. But what happened to you? Oh! I know because I was once a hedgehog that had been following you for two days?" Damn! Now I sound like a stalker!_

As his mind continued to debate on what to say, his mouth spoke for him.

"T-thank you, Miss."

"No problem." She said as she brought up a plate of food via pulley system.

As she handed him the tray, Link took a seat across from him, ready for some answers.

"I trust that you are feeling better, sir?"

Sonic, looking up from his breakfast of bread, eggs and cheese with milk, spoke to her after finding the right words.

"Close, Miss. I don't remember what happened though."

He then looked at her as he began to eat his eggs.

"Where am I? And who are you, Miss?"

Simple questions, yes. But it was, by far, the best place to start.

"Forgive me, sir. You are in my house just outside of Ordon Village. I brought you here after a friend and I found you unconscious by the Faron Lake. And as for my name, it's Link."

It was then her turn to ask questions.

"May I ask, what's yours?"

"My friends call me Sonic." Sonic replied. "I was the fastest person in my hometown."

Not much of a story, but it was both an explanation for his name and the possibility that his legendary speed remained intact.

"Sonic? It's an unusual name."

_Oh great! She thinks I'm a freak!_

"But it seems to have suited you."

Sonic was confused at what she had said. Could she tell that he was indeed fast?

"What were you doing by the lake?"

Sonic had to think up of a story, and quick. And seeing the situation of his attire, he came up with one.

"I was exploring this new country when I was attacked by bandits. I fought them, but I guess one of them must have hit me in the head."

"That's what Rusl and I figured out."

"Rusl?" he asked.

"He's my friend and my mentor. He had brought medicine for you in case something happens."

She then pointed at a pile of folded up clothes on the dresser nearby.

"He also brought you a set of Ordonian cloths for you."

Looking at the cloths, Sonic then returned his gaze to Link.

"Thank you, Link. I appreciate this."

The blue-eyed girl smiled at him.

"You're welcome."

The blue-haired man almost got lost in the beauty of her smile until he noticed her realizing something.

"Oh boy! I'm going to be late."

Returning to the ladder, Link looked to the bed-ridden boy.

"I have to work on the ranch today. If you need me, just follow the path into the village, then up the hill. Feel free to talk to anyone. I'm sure they are willing to help you."

Sonic nodded as Link climbed down the ladder and rushed out the door.

Once Link was gone, Sonic continued to eat his breakfast.

_I can't believe it. I've actually TALKED to Link! Sure, a bit of the stuff I said was a lie, but it's a better story than the "I'm actually a super-fast hedgehog from another world" story. _

Looking at his plate of food, he decided that maybe he should just take it easy. After all, who knows how and when he would get back to his own world. But…did he want to go back?

His hunger reminding him, Sonic began to eat the rest of his breakfast. Looking at the cloths he had received, he thought to himself.

_Mmm, maybe a visit to the village won't be bad. I mean, what could go wrong._

* * *

As Link was working on the ranch, she was bombarded with questions from the villagers, particularly the female population. Every time she would get close to the gate or when she had to go to the village to pick up lunch she was constantly questioned about the mysterious boy she had brought back to her house the other day. She was glad that the man had woken up and had given her the answers to the most frequent of questions.

But the women didn't stop there. Since Link was the only young woman in the village who was at the right age of marriage (Ilia was a year younger than her), she was asked the most embarrassing questions such as "Do you think he likes you?" or "Has he asked you to marry him yet?"

_Sometimes, I hate being seventeen._ She thought.

However, her thoughts were interrupted when Uli came to her with the blue-haired man, all dressed in Ordonian clothing (a cream colored sleeveless shirt, brown pants (capris?), and sandals), came walking up to her. As he came over to her, Link blushed.

_My, he looks handsome in those old things._

"Hey, Link. I came to visit the village like you said. Miss Uli showed me around."

Uli smiled at the young woman. "I was hanging laundry when he came up to me and asked if he could visit you. I agreed, after I had shown him the village."

Link sweat-dropped.

_Uli, you too?_

Remembering that she had to return to the ranch, Link spoke.

"Well, thank you, Uli. But I have to get back to the ranch. You know how Fado gets when he's hungry."

Uli chuckled while ushering Sonic to the Ranchwoman.

"Why don't you show him the ranch, Link? After all, I'm sure he is curious about what you do."

Sonic already knew what she did, but he didn't mind seeing the ranch again.

"Uh, of course?" Link replied, unsure on how to reply to the situation.

After the reunion, Link lead Sonic to the ranch and, after giving Fado his lunch, showed him around. With everyone back to their own business, it was both nice and refreshing for the two to be alone together.

"So, what do you do besides tending to the ranch?" Sonic asked.

"Well, Rusl has been teaching me how to fight with a sword for some time. I also train with Epona."

She then realized she had forgotten to introduce him to her horse.

"Could you give me a minute?"

Sonic was confused at first, but he nodded in agreement upon realizing that she was going to introduce her horse to him. Like with the previous days, Link picked up a horseshoe reed and blew Epona's song into it. And just like the previous times, Epona came at her call.

_Now's my chance!_ The blue-haired man thought.

As Link stroked Epona's muzzle, Sonic spoke up.

"Wow, she really comes when you play a reed."

Link took one look at Sonic before returning her gaze to her horse, smiling.

"Yes. We've been friends since we were young and the song became our thing. No matter where I am, if I play the song, she always comes."

At that moment, Link took Sonic's hand and guided it to Epona's muzzle. It didn't need an animal psychic to know that Epona knew that the blue-haired boy was the blue hedgehog the night before. So naturally, she accepted him.

Of course, Link didn't know that.

Speaking of which, as Sonic stroked Epona, Link remembered that today was the day she would venture to Hyrule Castle and present the sword as Ordon's representative.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" She then looked at Sonic. "I'm sorry, but I going to need Epona. I have somewhere to go today."

As she began to mount Epona, Sonic asked her.

"Where are you going?"

"To Hyrule to deliver a sword. Talk to Fado. He'll explain."

And with that, Link and Epona began to work hastily.

As Sonic watch Link heard the goats, he leaned on the fence, asking Fado the question.

"Hey, Fado? Why does Link need to go to Hyrule anyway?"

Knowing that the strange man was a foreigner unfamiliar with their culture, Fado explained.

"Well, once a year, we of the neighboring province of Ordona, have to pay a tribute of sorts to the vast northern kingdom of Hyrule. It was a sort of a deal that Ordona would be protected by the kingdom in return for a yearly tribute of sorts. This year, Rusl made a magnificent sword. Although the mayor originally asked him to do it, Rusl decided that Link should do deliver the sword. I think it's because he wants her to see the world."

This surprised Sonic. "What do you mean by that?"

Fado explained. "Ever since she was a kid, Link had rarely left the village. Even before her parents had died, instead of enjoying herself, she worked hard to help everyone. And with her compassion, my old man hired her when she was old enough. We are all grateful for her, but we, me and the village, want her to be happy with her own ideas of fun. I guess it's because of the old legends that she was told when she was young makes her want to go on adventures like the Hero of Time himself."

"The Hero of Time?" Sonic asked.

But before Fado could answer, he saw the last goat entering the barn.

"I think that story would have to be told at another time, man."

He then turned to Sonic and grinned. "Just make sure she gets to Hyrule alright."

Sonic didn't have a clue at first, but then he began to wonder if the royal family of Hyrule could help him. But…something in the air doesn't feel right. Shrugging the feeling, he joined Link and Epona on their way back to the village.

* * *

Upon their return, the two teenagers were greeted by the mayor and Ilia.

"You all set to go, Link?" The mayor asked.

Link nodded. "I just need to pick up the sword and I'm on my way."

Clearing his throat, Sonic spoke up. "Excuse me, mayor? Would it be alright if I went with Link as well? I mean, it's my first time in this land."

The mayor nodded in eager agreement.

"Why of course, lad. I hope you find Hyrule an interesting place."

As the three talked, Ilia was talking and petting Epona when she noticed something about her leg.

"What's this?"

The three took notice at the changing emotion in her voice.

_Oh no! Here we go._

"Epona's injured!"

Immediately, Ilia became angry. She stormed over to Link, who arched back, a stunned look on her face.

"You were pushing her again, weren't you?"

"Ilia, I…"

"Now, now Ilia. I'm sure that Epona will do fine…"

But that made Ilia turn her anger to her father.

"Father! How can you think of that at a time like this! You're the mayor for goodness sake!"

The two flinched, opening one eye and looking at each other. Then, Ilia took Epona's bridle and lead her away, telling the horse that she was going to take her to the spring, while the mayor tried to reason with his daughter.

Confused, Sonic walked over to Link.

"Ok. What just happened?"

Remembering her guest, Link turned to him and bowed.

"I am so sorry about Ilia. She gets thick-headed when it comes to my horse."

She then spoke out a thought. "What in the world am I going to do with her?"

Knowing that this was an important day for Link, Sonic spoke up.

"Come on. Let's go and get your horse back."

Link nodded as she followed the boy.

Upon their return to her house, Link and Sonic noticed that Malo and Talo were blocking the path to the lake, while Colin approached them.

"H-hey Link. I saw Ilia heading to the spring. She looked angry, so I was going to go after her. But…"

Link didn't need to hear what happened. Since Colin told Rusl, no doubt that what had happened the day before came to the ears of the boys' parents. And they were taking it out on Colin.

Seeing this, Sonic spoke up.

"I'll take care of this."

With that, he approached the two boys.

"Hey, guys." The two took noticed at the blue-haired man approaching them.

"Hey! You're that guy Link saved." Talo spoke excitedly. "I'm Talo! And this is my brother, Malo."

The younger boy remained indifferent.

Bending down to their level, Sonic asked them, "Hey, why won't you guys let Colin pass?"

It was then that Talo became angry. "It's because he tattled to his dad about me going into the woods to catch a monkey."

"Yeah. And we got a scolding for it too." Malo replied.

Seeing this, Sonic asked the older boy. "But don't you think it was a bad idea in the first place to run off in a place like that?"

"W-well, uh…"

Seeing that the boys were in deep thought, Sonic then told the boys.

"Hey, how about you guys and I go into the village and I'll show you why they call me Sonic."

That caught the boys' attention. "Yeah!"

As the three boys passed them, Sonic gave a smile that said "it's all clear." Smiling back, Link whispered to him, "Thank you." And with that, Link and Colin went to find Ilia.

Once Link and Colin made it to the springs, Ilia let Colin in, only to shut the gate so that Link could not.

"I'll try and talk to her. There's a tunnel leading to the spring a bit back." Colin told the Ranchwoman.

"Thanks, Colin. I'll be right there."

Link then followed Colin's instructions, finding the tunnel hidden behind tall grass. Getting onto her knees, Link crawled her way into the spring, just in time for Ilia to have hearing about what happened to Talo.

"I see. I didn't hear the details about the attack on Talo."

The younger woman then took noticed at the older one. She was about to approach Epona when the horse moved away from her.

"So. It seems that you still prefer your mistress over me."

She then looked at Link. "Colin told me what happened. To Talo, I mean. Well, luckily, it was just a small scratch."

The two women remained silent as the boy began to pet Epona.

"Link. You're going to Hyrule…with that boy, right?"

Link nodded.

"He wants to see Hyrule and he also wanted to help me deliver the sword."

Ilia looked on to the spring.

"Well…I'm sure he'll do a good job in helping you. Just…promise me one thing."

She then looked to the Ranchwoman.

"Just come home safely. You're like a sister to me and the kids. None of us want to lose you."

Link was surprised by that comment, only to smile. "Alright. I promise."

However, the moment was soon ruined when Link heard something.

"Huh? Thunder?"

Since Link was the only one with long ears, she was able to hear this thundering. But she wasn't prepared for what was to happen.

* * *

Meanwhile…

Malo, Talo, and Beth were impressed by Sonic's speed. In a matter of seconds, he ran ten laps around the village without breaking a sweat. (**1**)

"Wow! Mr. Sonic, you really are the fastest man in the world!" Talo called excitedly.

Sonic grinned at the kids. "Well, I'm still not sure. But I'm glad you guys think so."

However, the fun was cut short when the Blue Blur heard the sound of thunder. Looking up to the sky, Sonic thought to himself.

_No storm clouds. So why is there thunder? _

As he thought that, he noticed a dust cloud coming from the direction of the spring.

"What the…?"

"BULBLINS! EVERYONE, READY FOR BATTLE!"

It was at the call of the lookout that Sonic saw some strange creatures riding some strange, huge boars. But no matter how strange they were, Sonic knew they weren't the good guys with those weapons flailing.

With the village in a frenzy to protect the village, Sonic wanted to fight. But with the three kids by him, he knew he had to get them to safety. He picked up Beth, followed by Talo, who was holding Malo.

_I have to get these kids to someplace safe._

However, as he was about to head to the ranch, Sonic felt a blunt pain on the back of his head, followed by darkness.

* * *

When he came to, Sonic noticed that the kids were gone.

"What the! Talo! Beth! Malo!"

It was then he realized. Whatever had hit him, it took the kids with them.

_And that means… _

It was then that Sonic turned on his heels and headed to the spring.

* * *

When Sonic arrived to the spring, he found Link, unconscious in the spring water.

"Link!"

He ran over to the woman and woke her up.

"Link, what happened? Where's Ilia and Colin?"

Link groaned as she woke up, her head throbbing.

"S-Sonic?" Then she remembered. "Sonic! Ilia and Colin got captured."

Without another word, the Ranchwoman ran out of the broken gate and made a left turn, straight to the forest.

Seeing this, Sonic ran after her.

"Link, wait up!"

He would have caught up with her sooner, but as he left the spring, he felt something was wrong in the direction that he was running to. As he tried to figure out what the feeling was, he tripped on a log, bringing him back into reality. With his attention back on Link, Sonic ran across the bridge.

When he arrived, he, along with Link, gaped at the sight of a huge black wall with unusual orange markings on it.

"W-what the devil is this?" Link asked in surprise and shock.

Sonic just spoke, knowing that this wall had never been there before. "I…don't know."

It was at that moment that a pair of hands came out and grabbed the two teenagers by the upper torso. In a swift movement, the pair were pulled in, screaming.

After the two had passed the unusual wall, the pair found themselves in the hands of a black creature that was the size of a horse with a disk for a face.

_What the hell?_ The two thought, struggling to get out of the creatures grasp.

As they did, the three-triangle birthmark on Link's right hand (A/N: or left, I don't remember) began to glow. The light grew brighter and brighter until the monster released its captives.

However, that wasn't the end.

Sonic felt a familiar pain he hadn't felt in a while. He knew that it wasn't the creature that pulled him and Link into this…veiled place, but rather something that had been in his genes for a few months now. He felt his bones shift form as hair began to burst through every pore on his skin. His nails began to become thick, hard, and sharp. As did his teeth. His muscles grew stronger and stronger, making the man cry out in pain before he collapsed…as a Were-hog.

Link felt a similar pain, but she felt that she was getting smaller, and longer. Nausea came to her as she felt the sickening pain and the crackling of her bones before she gave a scream. This slowly turned into a howl. Like with her companion, Link passed out…in the form of a wolf.

As the creature that pulled the two in dragged the wolf and Were-hog away, a small figure watched from the shadows.

_Hmmm. This could be an advantage._

The figure gave a grin as it followed the three creatures, keeping to the shadows.

* * *

So_Sorry for the long wait, but I had to piece together this chapter, work on my other fics, and clear writer's blocks left and right._

_(1) When I see Human Sonic Running, I was thinking Naruto style running. Sprint-look, not red circles around the body like in the old games and cartoons._

_Also, I have a VERY IMPORTANT POLL on my bio concering the story. I'm thinking of adding a certain character into the story, but I'm not sure. So, can you guys check out the poll when you are done reading this chapter? _

_If you have any ideas on (if I should) how and where to bring him into this story, can you tell me via private messaging? That way everyone gets to be surprised._

_THanks and please review._

**_Update: I am sorry, but apparently, my poll won't take any votes. I think it might be a bug. Anyway, If you want to vote, just message me, telling me if you want HIM in the fic or not. Again, sorry. -DD_**


	4. Shadow, Midna, and the Twilight Princess

**Chapter 4**

**Shadow, Midna, and the Twilight Princess**

_Well, the ayes have it. Shadow is now officially a part of The Legend of Sonic: Twilight Princess. Thank you all for your votes and opinion. This is major thanks from a Shadow Fan-girl. :)_

_A few things before you begin._

"Talk"-talking

"_talk"-_Thinking

**_"__talk'-_**Wolf Link thought-speak

* * *

As his consciousness gradually returned, Sonic groaned with throbbing pain across his body.

"Ugh. What happened?"

"About time you woke up, Faker." A familiar voice sneered.

Sonic's eyes shot open completely, remembering that there was only one person who called him that nickname.

Sitting up at the edge of a stone wall, Sonic turned to the source of the sound. At the opposite wall was a black and red Were-hog. His wrists held shackles, but the chain had seemed to have been broken by force. He didn't need much more to recognize him.

"Shadow? Is that you?"

"Of course it's me, you idiot. But what exactly happened to you?"

Taking this as a hint, Sonic looked at these newly formed, yet shackled hands.

_"Crap! I'm a Were-hog again. But…why?"_

"Well, Faker?" The black Were-hog scowled.

Seeing that Shadow's temper was the last thing he needed, Sonic explained to him about the last time he became a Were-hog as well what had happened to him in the past couple of days.

Minus his crush on Link.

As soon as he was done, Sonic then asked the black Were-hog.

"What about you? What are _you_ doing here?"

Shadow scoffed but knew that Sonic would get the truth out of him somehow.

"In truth, when I woke up, I was here. I don't remember anything else between that and shutting down the Eclipse Cannon."

Sonic rolled his eyes. How could _the_ Ultimate Life Form just pass out and awake to find himself in a cell later. In honesty, he was glad Link wasn't around to see this.

At the thought, Sonic soon became worried.

"Shadow, when that thing put me in here, did it happen to have something else with it?"

Shadow raised his eyebrow at the question and the look in Sonic's eyes when he asked. But, none the less, the Ultimate Life Form gave the Blue Blur his answer.

"All I saw that was taking in with you was a mangy wolf. I heard that creature lock it away in another cell. Why?"

Trying to look out of the cell, Sonic answered.

"I think that so-called 'mangy wolf' was Link."

Seeing that he couldn't get his head out of the cell safely, Sonic then tried to break his shackles.

"What are you doing?" Shadow asked.

"What does it look like? I'm breaking out. I'm surprised that _you_ haven't done the same."

"Don't you think I've tried? Even with this new strength I can't break these chains."

That didn't stop Sonic.

"Well, I'm getting these things off of me, with or without your help."

* * *

_**Meanwhile, in another cell farther down from Sonic and Shadow's…**_

Link slowly stirred, her body throbbing in the same pain as Sonic. Once her eyes were clear, she realized that she wasn't in the forest anymore.

"_**What the…? What happened?**_"

She tried to speak out her thoughts, but instead of words, the sound of growls and a light whine came instead. Confused, Link looked down at her hands. Only, they were replaced by pawed legs, her right leg, shacked.

She then noticed, once she looked, that her body was not human anymore. Instead, she had turned into a wolf. As she struggled to assess the situation, she looked on to the barred doors of the cell. Coming into her cell were two scents.

The first scent was unfamiliar, a combination of steel and blood.

The second scent, however, she somehow recognized. It was the smell of the wind and grassy fields, the same scent she smelt when she carried Sonic back to her house.

"_**Sonic?**_"

The wolf tried to approach the door, but was stopped by the chain. In frustration, she grabbed the chain and began to shake it violently, praying to the goddesses that she could get out. But as she struggled, a new scent came.

She looked up and growled at the sight of the source of the smell. It was a small, black and white imp, donning some sort of a headdress that covered most of its head, including one eye. It had a fiery reddish/orange ponytail and florescent green markings.

It seemed lifeless for a moment, until its one visible eye opened and a toothy grin came to its mouth. In a flash, the imp phased through the bars and landed behind Link. Growling in defense, the wolf tried to attack the imp, only to be stopped by the shackle. The imp giggled.

"Oh~, aren't you scary. Should you really be snarling and growling? You should really be grateful that I have found you."

Growling seemed the appropriate response for Link at the moment. She didn't trust this imp after what had happened to her and who knows about Sonic.

"Hmm, well, that's too bad. I was planning on helping you and your friend to get out of here."

At the sound of this, the growling ended. As far as Link could see, she was in no position to refuse such help.

"_**But at what price?"**_

The imp smiled again, seeing that the wolf-girl was willing to cooperate.

"Hee-hee. That's much better. You humans are obedient to a fault, aren't you?"

The imp then patted the bottom of Link's chin, causing her head to move up and down.

"Oh, but I guess you aren't human anymore, are you? You're a beast! Eee hee!"

In irritation, the wolf tried to bit the imp, but the creature jumped back before her teeth could reach it. Giggling, the imp continued to speak.

"There, there. You be a good girl and calm down. There's no need to bite."

It was then the imp formed a dark sphere in its hands and with a swift movement, the sphere shattered. In reaction, the chain on Link's restraint was broken, leaving the band on as well as four links of the chain.

This startled Link, but no more than when the imp quickly appeared in front of her.

"You look kind of surprised! Eee hee hee!"

It was then that the imp phased back out of the cell.

"So! I bet you're wondering, where exactly are we?"

Standing on the other side, the imp continued to speak.

"Well, I'll make you a deal. If you can get over here, maybe I'll tell you! Also, I might even help that boy and his dark friend, who are also imprisoned nearby. Eee hee!"

At the sound of Sonic's description, surprise came to Link again at the fact that the blue-haired boy was here too. But…who was the dark friend that the imp told her about. Was it the owner of the blood and steel scent? Seeing that she had little choice, the wolf-girl examined the cell door until she spotted some broken stone tile at the end, revealing dirt.

"_**Well…since I AM a wolf. I might as well dig my way out."**_

It was then that Link used her new body to dig a large enough hole and crawled through to the other side. After she shook the dirt of her, she felt a weight land on her back. Both startled and in defense mode, the wolf began to run in circles, trying to get the thing off.

"Hmph! I guess you're not completely stupid after all!"

It was then that Link realized that the thing on her back was none other than the imp that freed her. Standing still, she felt the imp pat her on the shoulder.

"Listen, I like you, so I think I'll get you and those two boys out of here."

The imp then grabbed Link by the ear, keeping her at attention.

"But in exchange for my help, you have to do EXACTLY as I say! I will tell the two boys the same thing once we free them."

It then kicked the wolf-girl in the sides as if she were a horse.

"So, are we all clear?"

Link nodded, despite wanting the imp to be long gone.

"Good. Now, come on! Let's get moving."

The imp then pointed to the hall.

"The two boys are down there. But…they won't look the same as you last saw them. Eee hee!"

Link wondered what the imp meant by that. Could Sonic and this other boy have been affected by this…veil?

_**"Well. No use in standing around and thinking about it. Might as well find them."**_

With that thought in mind, the wolf ran down to the direction of the scent.

* * *

Sonic's hands, shackle chains broken by his thrashing, were throbbing with pain as he stopped punching every corner of the cell. He was still determined to get out, but the cell was too thick for him to break down. It was no wonder Shadow stopped beating the place up an hour before he came by.

_"Damn. This cell is too thick. But there has to be a way out. I just know it!"_

As the Blue Blur thought this, Shadow could hear the sound of paws 'galloping' down the corridor.

"Sonic, get down."

Despite his willingness to protest, Sonic did as he was told and waited. As the sound grew louder and louder, Sonic edginess continued to grow. As soon as the sound lessened, he spotted something coming into view. A wolf with green and grey fur. It had unusual markings on its forehead and an imp on its back.

The imp spotted the pair and pulled on the wolf's ear.

"Here they are. Eee Hee."

The pair narrowed their eyes. Well, further.

"Who are you?" Sonic demanded.

"And what do you want?" Shadow added.

The imp replied with a giggle before levitating off of the wolf, facing the cell.

"Well, now. And here I was, thinking that you would _appreciate_ seeing the two of us."

She then pointed to the wolf.

"And especially since _she_ was the one who wanted to rescue you."

Sonic took his glare off of the imp and looked at the wolf. Even at first glance there was something familiar about it. His eyes scanned for any identification of the wolf until he reached its eyes. They were blue. Proud. Wild. Serene. The same description he had mentally describes…_her_ eyes. It was with realization that caused his eyes to widen.

"Link?"

The wolf nodded as the imp giggled again.

"You've got it right, outsider. Your sweet, precious girl now in the body of a wolf. How interesting. Eee hee."

Link ignored the imp as she looked for a similar way out like she had used. It wasn't long until she found a patch of broken tile, caused by Sonic's thrashing. Thinking quickly, she began to dig.

Shadow saw this, his curiosity peaked. He stood up and walked over to the door, watching the wolf work. As soon as he saw the dirt underneath, he understood what the wolf's plan was.

"I can't believe I didn't think of that."

"What Shadow?" Sonic asked, confused.

Shadow pointed to the dirt.

"The wolf no doubt dug her way out. Since we can't break the cell, why not break the tiles?"

Sonic caught on and began to pound the tiles, Shadow following suit, while the imp watch as the three worked on escaping.

_"Hmm. This might be better than I thought."_

Five minutes passed and the two Were-hogs had broken the tiles along the cell door, while the wolf-girl dug fiercely. Once the tiles were broken, the Were-hogs joined their new friend in the excavation. Within that time, they managed to dig a hole deep enough for the boys to slid under.

After they were free, the pair began to brush themselves off, while the imp, who identified herself as Midna, gave them the same talk she had with Link.

"And what makes you think that we'll help you?" Shadow asked, narrowing his eyes at the imp.

Midna folded her arms, smug as ever.

"Hmm. Well, would you rather stay here alone while in an unknown land? Or do you want to come and help us while we search for a way to…return you."

The trio of beasts raised an eyebrow each. To Link, she didn't know what Midna was talking about. While Sonic and Shadow wondered if the imp knew they were not a part of this world. Seeing that he had little choice, Shadow gave a low growl, signaling his defeat.

Once she saw Shadow on her and Link's side, Midna then turned to Sonic.

"Well? What about you, Blue Boy?"

Though irritated at the nickname, Sonic calmly spoke his answer.

"I'm always up for exploring new places. But I guess this time I won't do it alone."

With a smirk, Midna patted Sonic's head.

"That's a good boy."

Sonic brushed her away.

"Don't call me that. My name is Sonic."

Shadow then gave an approved glare.

"And I prefer to be called Shadow. Understand?"

Link could clearly see that Midna was enjoying the pairs' irritation, so to stop her from going on any further, the wolf shook her body, halting the imp. Sonic snickered while Shadow just "hmph" the situation.

"Alright, alright. I'll show you the way out. But…"

Midna then settled herself on the wolf's back.

"…there is someone I want you to meet."

"Who?" Sonic asked the question that plagued the trio's minds.

The imp just giggled.

"You'll see."

* * *

After trekking the dungeon and making their way to the outside, the four could clearly see that they were not in Kansas anymore.

"Where are we?" Sonic asked.

"Some sort of castle. But…I am unfamiliar with this one." Shadow answered.

The three beasts took in the sight of an unusual castle, seemingly in a spider web-like form. Link looked up at one of the visible towers to spot a flag that bore a bird with three triangles that formed one above it.

_**"What is this place?"**_

Sonic looked at Link, seeing the lost look in her face.

"_She must not know where we are."_

Midna then pointed to one tower, still smirking.

"The one we need to see is in that tower."

Wanting answers still, the three did not protest…much. As they walked on the rooftops of the castle, they were attacked by monstrous birds that made a horn-like noise. (a/n: _Those things drive me nuts!"_). While Sonic and Shadow took out some of the birds with their fists and feet, Link used her teeth and powerful jaw to snap the necks of the monsters.

As they took care of the last of the monsters, Shadow saw that they had reached the tower.

"This way!" He called as he saw reinforcements coming.

Knowing that they could not take on more of these things, Sonic and Link followed Shadow into the tower via window.

Once inside, Midna pointed the way up. Once the four caught sight of a pair of doors, Shadow stopped Sonic, causing Link to stop as well.

"We'll keep a look out. You go on."

Not wanting to bother with the two, Midna urged Link onward into the room.

* * *

Inside, Link bore her teeth in defense at the sight of a cloaked figure at the other side of the room. Midna silently snickered at the sight. Then, the teeth became hidden when she saw the figure turn around, reveling part of a woman's face. As the wolf approached the woman, Midna rolled her eyes, while Sonic and Shadow listened in by the door.

"…Midna!" The woman asked, surprised.

The imp giggled.

"Eee hee. You remembered my name? What an honor for me…"

The woman then looked at the wolf, then at the two figures guarding the doorway.

"Are these the ones whom you were searching?"

Midna then placed a fist on her chin.

"Well…they're not exactly what I had in mind, but…I guess they'll do."

The woman knelt down until she was eye level with the wolf, noticing her shackle. Looking at the wolf's companions, she spotted the shackles on their wrists.

"You were imprisoned?"

The Were-hogs looked at their wrists, seeing what she was talking about.

"I am sorry." The woman replied, saddened.

"What do you mean by that?" Sonic asked.

"By far, you don't seem to be at fault here." Shadow answered, arms folded.

Midna patted the wolf, giggling.

"Poor things, they have no idea where this is or what's happened. So, don't you think you should explain to them what you've managed to do? You owe them that much…Twilight Princess! Eee hee!"

The woman looked down for a moment, then sharply looked to the wolf and her comrades.

"Listen carefully. This was once the land where the power of the gods was said to slumber. This was once the kingdom of Hyrule."

Sonic's eyes widened.

_"This was…Hyrule? The same place I was going to explore with Link?"_

"But that blessed kingdom has been transformed by the king that rules the twilight."

At that moment, the Were-hogs came in, interested in the tale.

"It has been turned into a world of shadows, ruled by creatures who shun the light.

"The soldiers and the kingdom's ruler fought well, but the power of the King of Shadows was too much. He gave the princess an ultimatum. Surrender the kingdom and allow the veil of twilight to cover the land. Or…to watch as the people of the kingdom die. Not wanting her people to perish, the princess dropped her sword.

"Twilight covered Hyrule like a shroud, and without light, the people became as spirits. Within the twilight, they live on, unaware that they have passed into spirit forms. All the people know now is fear…fear of a nameless evil."

The woman stood up, so that the trio of beasts could see her well.

"The kingdom succumbed to twilight, but I remain as its princess."

With that said, the woman removed the hood, revealing her face.

She was human, like Link was. Her golden hair was combed back with two locks, one on each side of her head and in front of her long ears, flowing down, wrapped. She donned a golden headdress with a blue jewel in the center. Her blue eyes gave off a sense of wisdom and kindness.

"I am Zelda."

From Link's back, Midna spoke again, her face neutral.

"You don't have to look so sad. We actually find it to be quite livable. I mean, is perpetual twilight really all that bad?"

But Zelda spoke in a serious tone.

"Midna…this is no time for levity. The shadow beasts have been searching far and wide for you. Why is this?"

Midna levitated a few inches above Link, crossing her legs as she faced away from the princess. Then, after a moment of silence, Midna held her arms in an "I don't know" shrug.

"Why indeed? You tell me! Eee hee hee!"

Seeing that she wasn't going to get a straight answer from the imp, the princess returned her attention to the three beasts.

"Time has grown short. The guard will soon make his rounds. You must leave here. Quickly."

"Is there any way we can help you? We could get you out of here, Your Highness." Sonic told the princess.

But Zelda shook her head.

"If they discover I am missing, the shadow beasts will surly harm my people. I am sorry."

Now understanding the situation, the three beasts and the imp made their way out of the room. However, as they were heading down the stairs, Link stopped. Turning to her, Sonic asked her, "What is it, Link?"

Looking down the spiral stairway, Shadow and Midna saw light glowing from the bottom.

"Not that way! The guard's coming." Midna spoke.

"And just when we think we're safe." Shadow muttered.

Looking around, the group spotted the open window that they came in earlier.

"Come on!" Sonic spoke as he picked up Link and reached the window.

Shadow and Midna followed suit.

* * *

Once the four were outside, Midna floated in front of them, giggling.

"Eee hee hee! Well? Do you understand where we are now? I guess a promise is a promise, so I'll let you go back to where you first tumbled into the twilight."

She then looked at Shadow.

"Since I don't know where you came from, I'll send you with them. Since you are familiar with the blue one."

Sonic and Sonic both snorted. Ignoring the two, Midna returned her attention to Link.

"But…are you _really_ sure you should be going back? Aren't you forgetting something important."

Then, in two twirls, Midna took the forms of a screaming Colin and Ilia. It was then that Link and Sonic remembered why they were in the twilight in the first place.

Midna giggled again.

"Eee hee! Do you want to save them?" Midna spoke, still as Ilia, while moving her hair back behind her ear.

"Well, in that case, little Midna would be happy to help you! But…You'd have to be my servant…and like a servant, you'd have to do exactly as I say!"

Returning to her original form, Midna looked to the two Were-hogs.

"The same with the two of you. You are not from this world, so…you have little choice but to come along and be my servants as well."

Sonic gave it some angered thought, but Shadow wasn't convinced.

"I have no ties to this place. Unlike Faker here, the only 'people' I've met are you, the wolf, and Princess Zelda. What do _I_ have to gain from being your servant?"

Midna smirked at the Ultimate Life Form.

"You want a way to return to where you came from, don't you, Shadow?"

Shadow nodded.

"Well. This 'place' is no doubt unlike your own in many ways. So…the way back to your own might be hidden here."

She then floated to Shadow, who was in a thinking stance.

"And the best way to find it…is to help me."

She then floated back, smirking at the three.

"Well…why don't you go back, take a little time, and give it some thought. Eee hee hee!"

And it was with that remark that the three beasts broke into black, square-like particles and vanished. Midna followed suit.

* * *

_Finally! After weeks of blood, sweat, and agony, Chapter 4 of The Legend of Sonic: Twilight Princess, is up._

_Enjoy! Eee hee hee! XD_

_Read and Review please._


	5. The Three Heroes Awaken

**Chapter 5**

**The Three Heroes Awaken**

The disintegrating feeling that Sonic and his companions felt soon faded as they were being reformed. Once they had opened their eyes, Sonic and Link saw that they, along with Shadow and Midna, had been teleported back to the spring near Ordon Village. Speaking of Shadow, when Sonic turned to him, he saw that the former was still a Were-hog.

"What the-?"

Sonic then turned to Link as saw that she was still a wolf while he looked at himself to find that he was still a Were-hog as well.

As the trio were trying to figure out what was going on, Shadow spoke.

"Hey. Where's that imp?"

"You mean Midna?" Sonic asked, scanning the area for the imp.

But he found nothing, neither did Shadow and Link. Shadow growled.

"Gah! Where did she run off to! She must know something about what has happened to us!"

"Oh, that's right. I forgot to mention one thing…"

The group heard Midna's voice, but was unable to see her as she continued.

"Though you may have left the darkened realm, you haven't transformed back to your former selves…and you won't anytime soon! Eee hee hee! See you three later!"

Shadow scowled as he muttered, "Good riddance."

Link snorted in half-agreement as Sonic sighed.

"Well, now what do we do?"

Link, remembering her village, turn from her companions and headed to the entrance. Sonic, seeing this, thought to himself.

"_She must be worried about her village. How am I gonna tell her that I lost Talo and the others?"_

"So, um, what next?" Midna's voice spoke again.

To the three beasts' surprise, Link's shadow took a life of its own and left its owner, forming into the imp that brought them here. The shadowy imp giggled at the look on the trio's faces.

"Did you think I'd disappeared?"

_"I was hoping you did." _Shadow thought, receiving a jab from Sonic when the Blue Blur noticed the Ultimate Lifeform's distaste.

Midna continued. "Listen, there's another thing I forgot to tell you three. Don't you think you can just run off and save your friends, because you can't."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Sonic growled.

Midna then pointed to the north.

"Just beyond that bridge, the land is covered in twilight. Last time, a shadow beast pulled two of you in through the curtain of twilight."

"We know that." Sonic replied.

"But, if you want to go that way this time, you'll need the cooperation of someone FROM the twilight…like me!"

Shadow understood what Midna was saying. Eventually, the trio will have to go back into the twilight-covered realm. And to do that, they would have to do what the pint-sized imp had to say. This was not making the black Were-hog anymore calm. The other two knew that too. None of them had a choice.

"Saving your friends and all that. Well, that'll depend on your actions. Because you never can trust words, you know."

"_Don't we know that." _Both Were-hogs thought.

Midna continued.

"Right now, I want a sword and a shield that'll suit me. You three understand me, right? Eee hee!"

_**"A sword and a shield? What in the goddess's names would she want something like that?"**_ Link thought to herself.

From what she could see, she and her two companions will be the one's fighting.

Midna spoke again. "So, what do you plan to do? While you're here dawdling, the twilight continues to expand. Come on! Hurry it up!"

She then returned to the wolf's shadow, silence covering the darkened landscape.

After leaving the lake, the three looked to the north. The wall of twilight was still there.

"Well, what do we do now, Faker?" Shadow asked.

But before Sonic could speak, the blue beast noticed Link running off toward the direction of the village. Realizing what she was doing, Sonic explained to Shadow.

"What choice do we have? Link's already got a head start."

"Head start at what?"

"Finding a sword and shield. This is the path to her village. So there's got to be at least one of those things there."

Understanding the situation, the Were-hogs followed the wolf.

* * *

As Link made her way to her village, she came across two bulblins right in front of her house. Seeing that she was the only one in the area (goddesses knows about the boys), Link bore her teeth, ready to fight. Seeing the wolf, the bulblins charged at her. But Link dodged to the side, avoiding the bulblins' clubs, leap at one of them, then took a bite at the creature's throat. Seeing its partner down, the second bulblin took a swing at the wolf. But before the wolf could brace herself, a fist came out of nowhere and punched the bulblin away from her.

Looking to the opposite direction of the bulblin, Link saw that the fist came from Sonic, who was joined by Shadow. Seeing her chance, Link sped over to the fallen bulblin and ripped its throat out.

"Well…that was…invigorating." Shadow spoke bluntly.

Sonic approached Link just as she was spitting the blood from her maw.

"You alright, Link?"

Link nodded as she rid herself of the iron-tasted bile. Looking to the entrance to the village, the three beasts began to walk forward when Link heard a voice call out.

**"**_**Wait!"**_

Turning around, Link found nothing in front of her house. That is, until she looked up on top of the ladder.

_**"Thank you for taking care of those bad guys. They made both the village and the forest a mess. They've also kidnapped the village children." **_

To Link's surprise, it was a squirrel talking. She turn her head to see to the guys, but the kept on walking.

_"Agh! I hate not being able to talk to them." _

Returning her attention to the squirrel, she continued to listen.

_**"But I know…that you're not one of them. I can tell because you smell like the trees of Ordon. If you run into any trouble, try talking to the animals. We animals understand one another, so you'll be alright." **_

Though stunned by this new information, Link understood what the squirrel was talking about.

_**"Uh…Thank you." **_She spoke before the squirrel scampered off.

With that settled, Link followed the boys into the village.

* * *

The night covered the village in a blanket of darkness, but there were still torches that lit the way. Link spotted Beth's father sitting on top of one of the plateaus, moaning in despair about the events that had happened that day.

"Ok, Link. Where's the best place to hide a sword and a shield?" Sonic asked the wolf.

Shadow growled in annoyance.

"Idiot. She can't talk. How is she supposed to tell us…?"

But Shadow stopped growling as Link used her paw to draw a shield in the dirt with an arrow pointing to the house with the waterwheel.

Sonic, seeing this, asked, "That's where the shield is?"

Link nodded as she headed off in the direction of Rusl's house.

"Guess she'll be getting the sword." Sonic replied.

"Well come on! Let's get that shield for that impudent imp." Shadow whispered.

The Were-hogs carefully passed Beth's father, keeping close to the shadows so as not to frighten the man. Well…not even further. Once they have crossed the bridge, Shadow halted Sonic when he spotted Talo and Malo's father speaking with the mayor over by the watermill.

"Oh! About the shields…" The mayor whispered.

But the other man, Jaggle, whispered back harshly.

"Hey! Not so loud."

The Were-hogs tried to listen in on the conversation further, but the two men kept their voices down so low that it was difficult for the two boys to hear them.

"Come on. Let's get closer." Sonic whispered.

"Just keep a low profile." Shadow whispered back.

The pair laid low in the tall grass as they got closer and closer until they were able to hear the conversation again.

"So, those shields are still in your house, right?" The mayor asked.

Jaggle nodded.

"Uh, yeah, they should be in our storage loft."

"Good! Grab them as quick as you can. Rusl got wounded pretty bad, so he can't go search for the kids. I'll take over for him."

"But Rusl had a sword, Mayor! And he STILL got hurt! If you're unarmed, you're done for!"

"I'll be fine. The sword that we were goin' to present to the royal family should still be at Rusl's house."

"Oh yeah? All right, I understand, Mayor. I'll just hurry up and get one of those shields. You just wait here…"

But the men stopped talking when they heard a rustle in the tall grass.

"No good! Run!" The mayor cried out.

The men ran off, leaving the Were-hogs alone in front of the waterwheel.

"Good work, Faker. Just what we needed: a panic." Shadow whispered sarcastically.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Look. At least it got us a chance to get in."

Sonic then pointed to an opened window on the third floor tower.

"We can get in from up there."

Shadow followed Sonic up the waterwheel onto the house and into the building. Of course, they had to scare Hanch (Beth's father) in the process. Once inside, the We-hogs looked over the ledge, releasing a sigh of relief once they saw that the coast was clear.

The pair then looked across the house to find a second ledge. On the wall over the ledge were three wooden shields.

The one on the left held an image of a leaf blowing in the wind.

The shield in the middle held the image of Ordonian goat horns.

The third and final shield held an image of three claw marks, as if the shield had already been damaged by a clawed beast.

"Well, there're the shields." Sonic spoke as he crossed the area to get a closer look at the defensive weapons. "Which one should we take?"

Shadow joined Sonic a bit later, keeping his eyes on the shields.

"Let's take all three."

Sonic looked at Shadow, confused.

"Why?"

"Because, the imp will whine less if we give her a choice. Also, if we turn back from these forms, we might as well use them to our advantage. After all, you did say you've acquired a human form upon arrival."

Sonic had to admit that Shadow had a point. If they return to their "borrowed" forms, they would need weapons to tackle Hyrule's bestiary. Since they would have no claws or fangs to fight with. And who knows if Shadow had his own form or a human form like Sonic has.

Without another word, the two took the three shields and headed out the window.

* * *

Meanwhile, during the Were-hogs shield "quest", Link headed to the one place she knew would have swords: Rusl's house. However, it proved difficult when she heard the boys make a large sound over by the plateaus. This did not go unheard by Rusl and Uli, who were outside their door.

"What was that sound?" Rusl asked in surprise.

He was wrapped in bandages across his body.

"The children could not have returned…could they?"

He then looked to the darkened village.

"I must go and search one last time. You get inside the house. I have placed the sword that was to be our gift to Hyrule on the couch. If the mayor comes for it, please give it and the other two swords to him. I am certain that he will be looking for volunteers to help him out."

But Uli protested. "But darling…your injuries."

Link couldn't hear any more after that.

She hated to hide from Rusl and Uli. They had been like parents to her since her own family died years ago, but I would be impossible to get them to understand that the beast before them was Link.

Keeping to the shadows, Link managed to avoid the wounded Rusl as he slowly walked down the path. She stayed in the stream until she got to the shore next to the property.

Slowly, she crept along the side of the wall, keeping her distance from Uli. Once she made it to the house, Link looked around until she found some soft dirt. Keeping the sound down, Link dug into the dirt, burrowing into the house.

Once inside, Link spotted the three swords that Rusl spoke about. The sword she was supposed to take to Hyrule was sitting on the couch like Rusl said. It was a simple, but durable blade that rested in a brown scabbard.

The other two swords were a little more decorative that the one on the couch. They were hung on the wall, crossed.

The sword that hung in front of the cross bore a silver hilt with a blood-red ruby on the end. The scabbard it rested in was red with black trimmings.

The second sword bore a golden hilt with a sapphire imbedded in it. The scabbard was blue and gold.

Link had asked Rusl why he had crafted such fine blades yet had not given them to the royal family. Rusl simply told her that the ones whom the swords were meant for will acquire them. But not even he knew who exactly the swords were meant for.

Seeing the beautiful blades, Link could have sworn that she had heard the goddesses telling her to take them to the boys. It was around the time when Shadow was explaining to Sonic about taking all three shields that Link figured it would be best is she took all three swords with her. Her logic the same as the boys.

So, with careful precision, Link knocked the swords down, the scabbards softening their fall. She then picked up the sword that was on the couch and placed it and the other three swords on her back. With the blades in place, Midna reappeared from her shadow.

"All right…So now you have a sword. And three of them, no less. Looks like you can actually be useful when you concentrate!"

Link growled at the imp, who continued none the less.

"All right…No more detours. I'm going to take you and those two back to the twilight. Find the boys and go back to the woods where you first got pulled into the twilight."

It was then that Midna returned to the shadow, while Link dug her way out of the house and crept back to hers, where she would meet the boys.

When Link returned to her house, she spotted Sonic and Shadow waiting for her. Seeing Link, the two approached her.

"There you are." Sonic spoke.

"What kept you?" Shadow replied.

Link answered by lowering her front half and shook the swords off of her. Eyeing the swords, Shadow took the silver one, gently examining it with his strong hands.

"Hmm…not bad."

Sonic took the gold sword and handed Shadow the claw-marked shield while he took the leaf one. This left Link with the goat-horned shield and the ceremonial sword.

"Guess we were thinking of the same thing." Sonic told the wolf.

With their weapons chosen, the three headed back to the forest. But when they were about to pass the spring, a voice spoke out of nowhere.

"Wait… Come…to my spring."

Though the wanted to head to the veiled part of the forest, the trio headed to the spring.

Once they have entered, the voice returned.

"You have…been transformed…by the power…of the shadows. Come…to me."

But just as they walked two feet forward, a ring of black pillars with red markings appeared, connected by a wall of similar markings. Sonic tried to leave the area, but the "wall" blocked his departure.

"What the-!"

It was then that the voice spoke again.

"Beware…A shadow being…It approaches…"

As the voice faded, a portal that was similar to the one that brought them back earlier suddenly appeared. Dropping from the portal was a large, black creature with a disk for a face. The same kind of creature that pulled Sonic and Link into the twilight.

Even though it hit the ground hard, the creature got back up onto its feet and readied an attack on the trio. Since he was the closest of the two Were-hogs, Shadow reeled back his fist and gave the creature an uppercut that knocked it off its feet. Once it was down, Link took the chance and tore out its jugular. (A/N: _That's another word for throat_.)

With the creature done for, the pillars disappeared and the portal went from red to neon green.

"Well…that was exciting." Sonic spoke.

"Speak for yourself." Shadow muttered.

Link, however, caught an unusual scent and took a couple of steps forward until the light dimmed. The surrounding stones began to glow off circular markings as the water shown a golden color.

This caught the attention of the Were-hogs as well.

"Hey! What's with the light show?" Sonic asked as he covered his eyes.

Shadow growled as he did the same. But even with the bright light, the trio could see a drop of water "jump" up and splashed back into the spring.

From the impact point of the drop, a sphere of light floated upward, getting bigger and brighter as a figure took form. Giving out a cry, a large ram faded into existence. It's body was a brilliant white with shimmering golden markings trailed throughout its body. This ram was ten times bigger than any of the goats that Link or Sonic had seen.

"Whoa…" Sonic whispered.

"What the hell?" Shadow mouthed.

Link could only gape as she thought, _**"By the goddesses…"**_

It was then that the shining ram began to speak in the same voice that lead the three into the spring earlier.

"O brave youths…I am one of the four light spirits that protect Hyrule at the behest of the gods. I am Ordona. The black beast that you slayed was a shadow being. It had come to seize the power of light that I wield."

The trio thought the same thought as they begin to listen to Ordona's tale. Is there a connection between what the light spirit just said and the veil of twilight covering Hyrule?

"My brethren in Hyrule have already had their light stolen by these fell beasts. The entire kingdom has been reduced to a netherworld ruled by the cursed powers of darkness. The blight will not stop with Hyrule. Before long, both worlds of light will fall into the hands of the king who rules the twilight."

Link didn't understand what Ordona had said on the last part. But the boys did. If what the light spirit said was correct, then not only was this world in danger, but theirs as well. They kept silent as Ordona continued.

"To save this land from the king of twilight, the lost light must be recovered. The three light spirits who have lost their light must be revived. There is but three who can revive them and redeem this land."

Ordona then gestured to all three beasts.

"You. You three still have not discovered your true powers."

Sonic, listening to this, asked, "But…why us?"

Link and Shadow held the same thought as Ordona continued.

"Those transformed by twilight usually cannot recover their original forms. Unless…If you were to return to Faron Woods, where two of you were first transformed…If you were to revive the light spirit…There, by the power of the light spirit, you may find the means to regain your other states of being."

"So that mean…if we revive the light spirit in Faron Woods, will turn back to normal?" Sonic asked.

As Ordona faded back, he managed to speak once more.

"You will see, Swift One."

And with that, the light spirit of Ordona Provence faded back to whence he came.

The trio, still stunned at the sudden appearance and request of the light spirit, headed across the bridge until they were in front of the veil of twilight…again to the majority of the party. Seeing the "doorway", the three readied themselves in case of another "incident."

As soon as they were close enough, Midna appeared from Link's shadow again.

"Hey. Look. The Faron Woods that you know so well. They're now covered in twilight."

_"No shit, Sherlock!" _Shadow thought.

"You might not be able to come back here, but…Do you still want to go?"

The trio looked at each other, all thinking of the same answer. The then nodded to Midna, who phased through the veil, leaving a ripple. From that ripple, a large orange hand shot out and pulled the three into the twilight.

After the three made it into the veiled Faron Woods, the Were-hogs looked to Midna, who was on Link's back with the ceremonial sword in one hand and the horn shield on her face. "Hmm! So these are the weapons you use in your world?" She then took a few swings of the blade, nearly hitting Link in the process.

Needless to say, even Shadow snickered at Midna's antics.

Midna scoffed. "You really think this thing can slay the creatures of the twilight?"

She then tossed the shield onto Link's head and plunged the sword into the ground.

"Well, I won't use these, but I'll hang on to them for you."

With a snap of her fingers, Midna made the sword and shield vanish. She then did the same with Sonic and Shadow's weapons.

"I'll hold on to yours as well. After all, you still have your strength."

Thought this annoyed the pair, (mainly Shadow,) they knew that Midna was right and appreciated the slight help.

Midna then spoke again.

"All right, a promise is a promise. I trust you enough to help."

She then leaned forward so that she could speak into Link's ear.

"In exchange for my help, though, I need you to gather some things for me."

This caused the three to raise their eyebrows.

"What things?" Shadow asked.

"Look, I can't tell you all the details now, but it'll be easy, trust me."

Shadow was about to say something when Sonic elbow-jabbed him, telling him to hold his tongue.

The four then turned their attention to the moans that were coming from the north. Midna spoke.

"But enough of that. Do you hear that noise?"

The three beasts nodded, continuing to listen to both the moaning and Midna.

"It's the lamentation of the spirit that had its light stolen. Where in the word could it be? Eee hee!

"Better get going, don't you think? Don't blame me for your worlds' fate if you don't hurry up and find that light."

The trio growled as Midna said, "Come on! Snap to it!"

Trying to ignore the bossy imp, the three headed toward the spring. But when they were about to enter the spring area, the pillars that blocked their way appeared again.

"Oh great!" Shadow groaned.

Just like before, a portal appeared overhead. But instead of one beast, it dropped three.

Seeing the odds, Sonic joked, "Looks like there's one for each of us."

But when it seemed to be easy, they found out that these creatures have an unusual talent. Just when Shadow and Link "killed" two of the creatures, the last one that Sonic was about to pummel gave an ear splitting howl. This caused the two fallen creatures to be revived, ready for another fight.

"What the hell?" Shadow spoke.

Link growled as Sonic assessed the situation.

"Guys! Take them down at the same time!"

Understanding that, the remaining two beasts took down the creatures again, just as Sonic took care of his. They then noticed that the creatures were dead because the remains vanished as well as the pillars, leaving another portal behind.

"I'm beginning to really hate this place." Shadow growled as they continued to the spring.

They caught sight of a glimmer of light shimmering dimly in the center of the spring. They walked forward until they were able to hear the faint voice of the light spirit.

"Please…be careful…These woods…have changed. The dark clouds of dusk cover this land… This drape of shadows is called…twilight. In this twilight, those who live in the light…become as mere spirits… It is a place…where the dark ones and evil creatures dwell. I…am a spirit…of light. Blue-Eyed Beast…Swift One…Dark Knight...Look…for my light. Retrieve the light stolen by the dark beasts…and keep it in this vessel."

A smaller light floated down to the three, gently landing in Sonic's large hands. The object resembled a small vine of grapes. But these grapes were crystal clear and defiantly didn't look edible.

Once the small vessel was theirs, a map that Shadow grabbed from Jaggle's house fell out and small, glowing dots appeared in the Faron Woods section.

"In the shadows of twilight…the dark insects are as…invisible…as normal beings are here. Let me use the last of my power…to reveal the locations of the dark insects…that consumed the light."

The three examined the map.

"Looks like we won't have to go far to squish these bugs." Sonic spoke.

"But actually finding them will be the hard part." Shadow answered as he rolled up the map.

They continued to listen to the light spirit.

"…Find…the insects of darkness. The dark insects… They are the form taken by evil…once it has latched on to…our scattered light."

Seeing that the light spirit had no more to say, the four headed to the first dot.

* * *

It took a couple of hours, between Link learning that her enhanced senses can locate the bugs to secretly saving a monkey from the bugs, they four managed to obtain all of the Tears of Light and returned to the spring. With the Vessel of Light in her mouth, Link walked up and placed the object in the center of the spring before she backed off. Immediately as the vessel was absorbed, the twilight faded from the area, returning the light to the Faron Woods.

Midna then floated away from the trio, hovering over the spring.

"Aww, but it was so nice here in the twilight. What's so great about a world of light anyway?"

She then giggled. "Eee hee hee! See you three later!"

It was then that she vanished.

A drop then fell into the spring, causing another light sphere to appear. But instead of a ram appearing, swinging around on the sphere was a large, white ape with a very long tail and covered in the same shimmering markings that Ordona had. The creature then looked at the three.

"My name is Faron. I am one of the spirits of light who dwell in Hyrule. By the order of the gods, I protect this forest. O brave youths... In the land covered in twilight, where people roam as spirits, you three were transformed into three beasts. That was a sign. It was a sign that the powers of the chosen ones rest within you three…and that they are awakening. Look at your awakened forms."

The three looked at each other and gave silent gasps.

Sonic maintained his human form, but the Ordonian clothing he had received from Link had disappeared. They were replaced by a blue tunic with chain mail underneath. A white shirt underneath that with fingerless gauntlets on his hands. He had cream colored pants and dark brown boots. The leaf shield and golden sword were resting on his back.

Shadow, to their surprise, had also obtained a human form as well. He was pale-skinned and had long, shaggy black hair with red highlights. He was dressed in an attire that was similar to Sonic's, only the white shirt and cream pants were black. The tunic was black with red markings that would resemble battle scars. He also wore brown boots and the silver sword and claw-marked shield were hanging on his back as well. In other words ladies, he's a real bad-ass looking guy. *oogle*

When they looked at Link, the two boys remained speechless, though Shadow didn't show it.

Link was wearing a green version of the clothing that the other two were wearing. But unlike the guys, Link had a long, green cap adorning her head and her tunic reached passed her thighs. Unlike the others, she seemed more heroic looking than them. She donned the ceremonial sword and the goat horn shield.

Faron continued.

"The three tunics that are your garb once belonged to the ancient hero chosen by the gods. Blue-eyed youth... His power is yours. His is the true power that slept within you. Swift One and Dark Knight… The gods had been watching you since the days you were born. They have witnessed your valor and have chosen you to aide Hyrule in its time of need.

"Your names are Link, Sonic, and Shadow. You are the heroes chosen by the gods."

This new information completely filled the three heroes with shock. Link had never realized that she held the blood of the Hero of Time. Sonic and Shadow never expected they had been handpicked for this endeavor.

Faron continued.

"Brave youths… A dark power rests in the temple deep within these woods. It is a forbidden power. Long, long ago, I and the other spirits of light locked it away. Because of its nature, it is a power that should never be touched by any who dwell in the light. But this world weeps beneath a mantle of shadows, and so there is no choice… You must match the power of the king of shadows. If you would seek this forbidden power, then proceed to the temple in the forest depths."

Like Ordona before him, Faron vanished. And when the light spirit vanishes, Midna will appear. (A/N: lol)

"Well, well…You're the chosen heroes and all that, huh? So THAT'S why you turned into beasts. What a shame. I mean, maybe you'd rather just wander as spirits like the rest of them, totally unaware of what was happening for all eternity…right?"

She then giggled. "Eee hee hee! So… What do you want to do? Do you want to head to that temple? Well, isn't that convenient! I was about to head there myself."

"Sure you were." The boys whispered to each other.

Midna's eyed narrowed at the pair. "Hey, look. You want to help your friends, right? And remember what I said at the castle, Shadow? The way I see it, maybe they're in that temple, waiting for you to come to them."

Shadow scowled after remembering the deal he had made with the imp.

"Well, good luck, Misters and Miss Important Heroes! Eee hee hee! See you later!"

She then returned to Link's shadow.

But before they could do anything, Link turned to the pair, her hands on her hips.

"Well…now that I can talk again, where _e_xactly did you two come from?"

* * *

_Uh-oh! The boys are busted...or are they?_

_Sorry for the wait. I had to work hard into making this chapter. _

_Read and review please and no flames. _

_I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog, Legend of Zelda, or the Dark Knight. (It was the best name I could think of for Shadow.)_


	6. The Forest Temple

**Chapter 6**

**The Forest Temple**

"Well?" Link asked, tapping her foot as she crossed her arms.

Ever since her body returned to normal (minus the new clothing), Link was determine to find out where exactly Sonic was from and how he and the dark-haired, yet handsome, Shadow know each other. With Shadow and Midna's "deal," Link's confusion rose greatly. All she wanted were some simple answers.

Sonic, however, struggled to figure out how he was going to answer her. Thanks to Midna, Link had become suspicious of his previous story. Were it just the two of them, maybe things would have been better. But with Shadow around and Midna's cryptic message, this left Sonic in a predicament.

Seeing that Sonic wasn't going to answer, Shadow walked forward and spoke for him, remembering the tall tale he heard from Sonic.

"Our apologies. We are originally from an archipelago far off from the mainland. We got tired of staying on specks of land and wanted to venture into the world. When we arrived here, a freak storm separated us and I was pulled into the twilight. Unlike _some_ people, I wish to return home and…study the surrounding areas before I would head out."

Link wasn't convinced. Her instincts could tell when something was up. She was about to inquire some more when she remembered that time was running out. If the three of them continue this banter, the twilight will continue to increase. She'll have to get her answers another time.

Sighing, Link spoke. "Look, I'll drop this for now. The longer we banter, the worse the situation is going to get. So I suggest we head to the temple right away."

Sonic was relieved when she said that.

_"Phew. That was close."_ He thought.

"I agree." Shadow spoke. "But the hard part will be finding the place."

"Not necessarily." Link replied.

This caused the two boys to raise their eyebrows in confusion.

"When I was across that fog hunting those insects, I spotted a large tree with an engraved door in front of it. I bet my rupees that that's the temple entrance."

The boys didn't understand what rupees are, but they trusted her instinct.

"Well, what are we waiting for? To the temple!" Sonic called enthusiastically.

"Hold it, boys. Do you two know how to use swords?"

The boys nodded.

"Don't worry. We've used swords before. So it's nothing new." Sonic happily remark.

Seeing that the two were truthful, Link began to walk ahead of them.

"Well then. We better get moving."

After Link was a few feet head of them, Sonic whispered to Shadow.

"Hey. Thanks for not ratting out on me."

"Don't mention it. But one of these days, I'm not going to be there to help your hide. Sooner or later, you're going to have to tell her. But right now, let's find that temple."

With that said, the boys followed Link down the path. Once they were at the fork that leads to Coro's cabin, Link thought of something.

"Wait here." She told the boys.

While the boys waited by the fork, Link headed to the right path and spoke to Coro.

"Excuse me. I would like two more lanterns and two bottles of oil for my friends and a refill for me."

The price came to 300 rupees, a steep payment for a Hylian native. But thankfully Link had enough to pay for the boys' new lanterns and her refills. Once she had the items in question, she returned to Sonic and Shadow and handed them their lanterns.

"The left path will take us through a tunnel into the deepest part of the forest. But it's pitch black in there, save for a couple of torches. So you'll need these."

Examining his lantern, Sonic asked, "But if there are lit torches in there, why do we need these lanterns?"

"Because you'll need them to fight off rats, keese, and Deku Babas."

"And what exactly are Deku Babas?" Shadow inquired.

"Trust me. With only three types of monsters in the tunnel, you'll know soon."

* * *

Link was right. As soon as Sonic and Shadow joined her in the tunnel, they came across the creatures she had mentioned. When the Deku Babas appeared, it nearly gave them heart attacks. Thankfully, after Link took out the first couple, the boys were able to fight the others that popped up.

After they had cleared the tunnel, the trio came across the clearing. However, like what Link saw when she was a wolf; the dried-up forest lake was filled to the shore with a strange purple mist. Before the boys could walk further, Link held up her arm.

"Hold it. When I was sniffing out the bugs, I saw one of those bird-like things fall into that mist after it fought one of its own. It wasn't hurt at first, but then it began to have trouble breathing. No doubt that that mist is poisonous."

This caused the boys to look cautiously at the mist. Poison? And the temple was on the other side?

Looking at Link, Shadow asked, "So how did you get across this mist?"

"I leapt onto fallen trees that were sticking out of the mist until I made it to the other shore. But now, we'll just have to figure out another way to cross."

As Link walked over to the mist, Sonic heard a rustle from behind.

"What was…?"

But before Sonic could speak, the monkey that Link had saved alongside Talo ran out of the bushes and grabbed the girl's lantern.

"H-hey! What in the world?"

The three watched as the monkey stopped at the edge of the broken dock, waving it's free hand to motion them forward. Sonic, seeing this, could not believe his eyes.

"I think she wants us to follow her."

The remaining two looked at Sonic as if he had lost his sanity. Why would the monkey want to lead them if the blockade was poisonous? Their questions were answered when the monkey jumped down into the mist and waved the lantern wildly.

"What the heck is she doing?" Sonic whispered.

"Does it look like we know?" Shadow sarcastically whispered back.

"Quiet! Both of you. Something's happening." Link whispered.

Sure enough, as the monkey swung, the mist around it shrunk away from it until it was a few feet away from it. After it was done, the monkey then gestured the three to follow her. The three were astonished at the sight until Link understood.

"I get it. The mist can't handle the light from the lantern. Since it is dim here, the mist was able to grow unprovoked."

Shadow, realizing the logic, concluded.

"The monkey's escorting us to the other side."

At this realization, Sonic and Shadow grasped their lanterns. They then jumped down and waved the lanterns, causing the mist to cringe back even further. With the mist cleared enough, the trio began to follow the monkey.

As they made their way across the mist, they ran across some more keese and Deku Babas. The sight of these monsters caused the monkey to curl up in fear. With the boys holding the lanterns, it was Link's job to take out the foes ahead. She used the slingshot she bought from Sara and use that on the keese. Then, she took out her sword and cut off more Baba heads. Once she gently told the monkey that all was clear for now, the monkey returned to leading the three out of the mist.

Once they have reached the shore, the monkey then dropped the lantern and ran on ahead. Picking up the lantern, Link examined the lantern before looking ahead.

"Looks like we're on our own from here."

While they continued their trek, Link refilled her lantern and placed it and the bottle back into her magic pouch she discovered on the way through the tunnel.

Once they have passed the gate, the three found three more shadow beasts. Like before, the trio had to dispose of them quickly. Once that was done, they noticed that something that resembles a bridge was leaning against the rock wall.

"What the heck is that?" Sonic asked.

"Looks like a bridge." Shadow replied bluntly.

Link looked to her right and spotted the giant tree she had seen earlier.

"There's the tree." She spoke.

But her words were unheard between the discussing males. Leaving the boys to their banter, Link entered the clearing that lead to the tree. She had seen this tree many times before and had always wondered how such a tree existed.

But as she approached the winding walkway that lead to the entrance of the tree, the girl withdrew her sword as a shining, golden wolf appeared before her. The boys, noticing that their partner was nowhere near them, looked to the path and saw the wolf. Fear being shown on their faces, they began to run toward their friend.

"Link! Watch out!"

But their cries were useless as the wolf leapt at the girl before she could react. As its mouth was just about to Link's head, a white light flashed, causing the boys to halt to cover their eyes. When the light dimmed, they removed their arms to find that the wolf was gone.

And so was Link.

* * *

**Meanwhile…**

After the wolf leapt at her, Link had lost consciousness. When she stirred, she saw that she wasn't in the forest anymore. Instead, she was in some sort of foggy landscape with large markers surrounding the area, such as a castle, a volcano, and a circle of towers. When Link looked ahead, she saw the golden wolf, sitting in front of the blue roofed castle. Arching its neck, the wolf let out a howl, while being enveloped in a white light. When the light dimmed, the green-clad woman saw instead of a wolf, stood a skeletal man, wearing armor and carrying a sword and shield.

It seemed to be waiting for something. But…for what? As Link approached the specter, it remained motionless. When she was close enough, Link gave a light swing of her sword, only to be deflected by the specter's shield and before she could react, she was hit in the shield by the specter's shield, causing the girl to land on her back.

When she looked up, Link was surprised when the specter spoke to her.

"A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage."

While she was getting up, the specter continued to speak.

"You may be destined to become one of the three heroes of legend…but your current power would disgrace the proud green of the hero's tunic you wear."

Link narrowed her eyes, filled with agitation and determination to prove the specter wrong.

"Then…what must I do? To strengthen my power?" She asked.

The specter, seeing the girl's determination, answered her.

"You must use your courage to seek power…and find it you must. Only then will you become the hero whom this world despairs. If you do find true courage, and you wish to save Hyrule from the horrors it now faces…then you will be worthy to receive the secrets I hold."

It was then that Link's first lesson from the specter had started.

The two beings, sanding a few feet away from each other, faced the other as the specter began the lesson.

"Enemies that are filled with energy will quickly recover and attack again, even when stunned by a powerful strike. _**The Ending Blow**_ is a secret technique you can use on stunned enemies to end their breath before they spring back into action. When an enemy lies collapsed on the ground, stunned, aim for its heart, then leap into the air and deliver a final strike. Now, try it on me!"

With that said, the two warriors crossed their swords, beginning the physical part of the training. With swift movements, Link used her strength to send the specter flying onto its back. Once she saw that he was down, she took the opportunity to jump high into the air and pierced the area where the specter's heart was once was. With the blow completed, Link jumped backwards, allowing the specter to rise up. He then spoke again.

"Hmm. That was a pinpoint strike. Never overlook your opportunity to finish the enemy. The first hidden skill, the Ending Blow, has been passed on!"

With a smile of victory of learning her new skill, Link spun her sword in her hand before placing it back into its scabbard. But the specter was not done speaking to her.

"There are still six hidden skills for you to learn. Those are only for the one who carries the blood of the hero…the one whose spirit is that of the sublime beast. Grow powerful. Test your courage. And when you find that you and your companions need another skill to overcome the threats that face you…search for the statues that howl with the sound of the wind. Seek the sound that calls to the spirit of the beast to awaken me again."

Link nodded and was a bit relived that she could teach these techniques to Sonic and Shadow. But she had a feeling that those two will be the only ones aside from her future children she could teach these skills to. She waited patiently as the specter spoke one last time.

"A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage. Remember those words. Farewell!"

And with that said, Link found herself engulfed in the white light again.

* * *

When Link woke up, she was greeted by the faces of Sonic and Shadow. Shadow's face remained the same as before. Link wondered if his face got stuck like that for some reason. When she looked at Sonic, she saw worry turning to relief.

"Thank god!" He huffed in relief.

Sitting up, Link rubber her head as Shadow and Sonic began to ask questions.

She explained about the warrior specter she sparred with and the new technique she had learned. If it were in their own world, both boys would have found it farfetched. But seeing that the rules of this world are different and that they know that Link hasn't lied, they believed her. They took a several minutes to allow Link to teach Sonic and Shadow the Ending Blow and to have them practice the move before facing their objective: The Forest Temple.

With the events of the Faron Forest and the specter behind them, the trio walked up the winding path and approached the entrance to the temple. Seeing the cobwebs in front of them, the green girl took her lantern and swung it at the cobwebs, causing them to catch aflame.

With the last of the blockades taken care of, the three warriors entered the tree and into the Forest Temple.

* * *

**Inside the Forest Temple…**

After entering the temple, the trio's pace began to slow as they stepped deeper into the darkness.

"I'm lighting my lantern." Sonic announced.

But Link and Shadow, noticing familiar chirp-like sound, widen their eyes as they realized what was in the tunnel-like corridor.

"NO! SONIC! DON'T!"

But their cries were in vain as Sonic lit the lantern, causing the source of the sound, a flock of keese, to attack the trio while surprising them at the same time. Shadow used his sword to cut the keese at his level down while Link used the slingshot to take the bat monsters out.

Once they were finished, Link and Shadow turned to Sonic.

"Haven't you ever heard of 'look before you leap', you dolt?" Shadow scowled.

Taking her slingshot and the bag of pellets, Link handed Sonic those items.

"Why don't you use this and leave lighting up the temple to Shadow and myself?"

Sonic frowned at the pair's reactions, but the snickering Midna in Link's shadow kept him from complaining.

As they continued, the trio came into a large chamber with four totem poles, vines everywhere, as well as a couple of Bokoblin and a new creature the boys haven't seen: spider-like creatures called Walltulas.

"Never did like spiders." Sonic spoke.

"I think those goblin-like creatures would be more of a problem." Shadow replied.

Link gave them their monster lesson.

"Those are Bokoblin. The spiders are Walltulas. And Shadow is right. We take out the Bokoblin first."

With that understood, the three warriors each fought off the monsters, which was added by Deku Babas hiding in the grass. As soon as he saw that Shadow and Link were handling the ground monsters quite well, Sonic took the opportunity to use the slingshot to take out the Walltulas.

After he took out the last of them, Sonic smirked. "This is too easy."

Finishing off the last of the Bokoblin, Link turned her attention to Sonic.

"Yes. Well, at least you've handled the smallest members of the branch."

Hearing this after taking down a Baba, Shadow turned to Link.

"You mean they get bigger?"

Link nodded. "I haven't seen them, but I have heard from Rusl that that get about as big as an Ordonian goat. And believe me, that's big. He said they are called Skulltulas."

The boys didn't like the idea of facing giant spiders. So, they continued with Link. They then spotted the monkey from earlier, climbing up the vines to a platform that lead to another doorway. Seeing as how the monkey hadn't leaded them astray so far, the trio followed the monkey and climbed the vines. Afterwards, they pushed the door open to find a much larger chamber with a ramp and three doorways.

After Link obtained the map of the temple, she examined it and looked at the doors.

"This temple is very large. If we are going to find the power that Faron talked about before, we'll have to split up."

The boys nodded and began to pick a room. Sonic took the room on the right, where he came across a strange creature by the name of Occocco. Grateful that the blue-haired boy freed her from a pot, the bird-like creature offered her services to the boy and his companions. Even though he didn't want to get the creature involved, Sonic thanked her and placed her in his pouch. When he arrived at the water filled room, Sonic's fear meter rose.

"Water. Why did it have to be water?"

The water wasn't his only concern as he had come across a Skulltula like what Link had described. He was beginning to hate these monsters.

Shadow examined his room, which was at the left door, and found plant life more vicious than the Deku Babas. These creatures consisted of Deku Likes and tiger-striped Baba Serpents. He hated both monsters, but despised the Baba Serpents the most. Because once he had cut off the head, it just continued to attack, slithering at him. He even had to take down a Big Baba, and that was a pain in the keister.

Both Sonic and Shadow noticed that the chambers they visited had imprisoned monkeys. No doubt the female monkey's companions. Feeling that they would help them in the future, both of the boys, regardless of their personalities, used their swords to free the apes, which ran off once they were free.

_"Well. That's gratitude for you." _Both boys thought, unaware of the help they were providing for Link.

Link had taken the center door with the female monkey and came across a windy chasm with an old bridge. Although rickety, the bridge looked sturdy. This was proven when the monkey ran halfway across. However, the monkey stopped when a larger monkey with an unusual item in its hand and an insect on its head. He saw the female monkey and Link and didn't look happy.

The ape lifted the object, a winged boomerang, and focused its power into it. The monkey, seeing this, ran back to the other side, just in time at the ape threw the boomerang, causing a tornado-like gale to cut the ropes on the bridge, leaving one line connected to the other side. As soon as it got its boomerang back, the ape turned around and spanked his red posterior at the two females before running inside the doorway on his side, leaving Link irritate at the rudeness of the ape.

She was tempted to leap over there and teach the ape a lesson when she turned her head to the monkey, who was shivering in fear as she held onto the female hero. Seeing the monkey like this caused Link to calm down a bit and comforted the monkey.

"Shh. It's alright. You're safe now."

The monkey looked up to Link, still rattled by the event that happened before, and bucked up. This was around the same time that Sonic and Shadow freed the monkeys from their cages. As the monkeys gathered, the door behind Link opened to reveal Sonic and Shadow, who had just finished their explorations.

"What's going on?" Sonic asked.

To their surprise, the monkeys, including the female, climbed onto the remaining bridge rope and hung upside down, clapping their hands at the trio. They blinked for a few seconds before Link understood.

"Oh~ Now I get it."

She then sprinted to the edge, much to the protests of the two boys, and jumped. Instead of plummeting to the ground like she should, Link's hands were caught by the monkeys, who then swung her over one by one until she made it to the other side.

The boys, catching this on, did the same as Link entered through the doorway. _"Now to teach that smart-ass ape some manners!" _She thought. However, before the boys could catch up to her, a wooden gate closed off the door, preventing the pair from joining their companion. "Hey! What the hell!" Shadow called. Sonic began to pound on the gate. "Hey! Open up! Let us in!"

But their cries went unheard as Link readied herself for a fight.

* * *

On the other side of the doorway, Link noticed that a similar gate closed behind her.

"What in the world!"

She turned back to try and pry the gate open, but no use. It was then that she heard a familiar ooking sound behind her. Link turned to find a circle of totem poles and on the center pole was the ape from earlier.

Raising its arm again, the ape threw the boomerang towards the ceiling, cutting down some Baba Serpents. The vicious plant monsters slithered toward her as the ape spank his rear again. This made Link's eye twitch.

"Ok. Time for some lessons on etiquette!"

With that said; Link took out her sword and took out the Serpents before they made a grab for her. The ape, seeing that the girl was strong, began to jump from pole to pole, cutting down more Serpents. Like before, she cut down the serpents before getting into the circle.

Once the ape saw that the girl was closer to him, he raised his boomerang arm again. Link, seeing this, performed the only option that came to her mind. After the ape had thrown the boomerang at her, Link dodged it and rammed herself into the totem pole, causing the pole to wobble. With the ape trying to keep his balance, he was unable to keep an eye on the boomerang as it returned to him, hitting him in the chest, causing him to fall on the ground, red butt up in the air.

"_Now, for a little discipline."_

Link then ran around the ape and took one swipe at the rump. The sudden pain on his posterior caused the ape to hop toward a pole. Because his mind was on his pain, the ape was unable to look where he was going and ran into the pole. This caused the ape to land on his back, causing the insect to fly off his head. Link, seeing this, raised her sword and stabbed the bug, killing it.

Removing the sword, Link readied herself to face the ape again. But…something was different. As the ape stood up, he placed a hand on his head. As if woken up from a rough nap. Link, seeing this, raised her eyebrow.

"What in the world?"

The ape, hearing her voice, tensed up. He then slowly turned until his gaze caught sight of the Hylian. Jumping in fright, the ape jumped onto the poles again and out the opening in the wall.

"What was that all about?" Link asked.

She then scanned the room until she spotted the boomerang. But before she could approach it, the boomerang came to life, spinning in the air in a single spot, surprising the girl. Surprising her even more, the boomerang spoke.

"I am the Fairy of Winds who resides in this Gale Boomerang. You have freed me from evil, and I now have my true power back. Please…take it with you, use it to aid your quest, and may both my power and my blessing go with you. If you focus your power into the boomerang, before releasing it, it will unleash the power of wind, aiding you in unforeseen ways."

The Gale Boomerang flew in a loop before returning to Link's hand, becoming hers. As she was beginning to walk back to the door, Midna appeared from the girl's shadow.

"I bet even the monkeys should be satisfied now. Ok. Let's continue combing this place. We already found something good, so let's keep searching places we haven't searched yet."

With that said, Midna then returned to the shadow.

As soon as the imp was gone, Link turned her gaze to the door.

"Now. How to get that open?"

Link examined her surroundings until she spotted a small fan above the doorway. Gazing at the Gale Boomerang in her hand, Link remembered the fairy's words.

"Focus my power and throw…"

Reeling back her arm, Link concentrated her power into the boomerang until she could feel the wind in her hand. Aiming at the fan, Link then threw the boomerang, causing a whirlwind to hit the fan, making it spin.

As the fan spun, the gate opened up. Smiling at her success, Link stepped out of the chamber, where she was happily greeted by Sonic and Shadow. Sonic was the first to approach her.

"Link! What happened?"

"And what is that in your hand?" Shadow inquired.

* * *

As they ventured further into the temple, Link explained what had happened between her and the ape. By the time she had finished her tale, they had found all of the monkeys and were trying to figure out how to get to the main chamber of the temple. Sonic reacted by falling to the ground, laughing until his sides hurt, while Shadow managed a chuckle. _(A/N: Wow! You don't see that every day.)_

"Ah-ha-ha! Man, I wish I was there to see that!" Sonic laughed.

Link, however, was not smiling.

"Boys. The more I think about it, the less I like it. If that ape wanted to kill me that badly, wouldn't he have had to put up more of a fight than that?"

This gave Shadow a questioning look, soon followed by Sonic, who was still snickering.

"What do you mean?"

"After he ran into that pole and the bug came off it, it was like he was a completely different ape."

Looking up at the large, chained doorway after the grateful monkeys helped them across, Link came to a solution.

"That ape was controlled by the insect. So there's no doubt that whatever created it is on the other side of this door."

As they looked at the door, the boys could not help but agree. Something wasn't right. Why would a bug possess an ape? And why this door would be heavily chained. The monsters that resided in the temple would've been enough to deter an adventurer away.

Unless…there was something worse behind it.

Taking the key that Sonic had found earlier, Link got onto Shadow's shoulders and placed the key into the keyhole. With a sharp turn, the lock turned before dropping to the ground. The chains following it.

Looking at the pair, Link asked as she got off Shadow's shoulders.

"You two ready for what's ahead?"

The boys looked at the darkened doorway before looking at each other. They then looked to their partner.

"We're game." Sonic replied.

"I haven't lost a fight here yet." Shadow remarked.

Seeing her companions were ready to go, Link took a deep breath.

"Alright. Let's go."

And with that, the three headed inside.

* * *

_**A/N: Grab the popcorn and turn up the boss music, guys. It's showtime! (I quote Beetlejuice on that.**__** :D**__**)**_

Upon entering the room, the door closed off behind the three, preventing any escape. With their only known route cut off, the trio then focused on the room.

"Whoa!" Sonic whispered.

Link and Shadow could only nod in agreement.

This particular chamber was ten times larger than the chamber that Link received the Gale Boomerang. There was a pool of violet water in the center with small "islands" in the middle. There were grates that let the water out and two openings high on the walls. There were Bomblings on the islands.

"It's quiet. Too quiet." Sonic whispered, quoting a familiar line.

Despite the annoyance, Shadow had to agree. The violet water was no doubt as poisonous as the mist from earlier.

"Something's wrong."

As soon as Shadow had said that, the three caught sight of three large ripples in the center of the pool.

"I hope that's a fish." Sonic spoke warily.

But to the group's dismay, something burst out of the water and it wasn't fish, but two humongous Babas.

As they were readying to fight the creatures, a mysterious voice spoke a name in their heads.

**_"Twilit Parasite: Diababa."_**

"Wha-what was that?" Sonic asked.

"You tell me!" Shadow replied.

But before the two could argue about it, Link noticed that the monsters were ready to strike.

"Look out!" She called, dodging in time as the Babas lunged at the trio.

Sonic and Shadow did the same and as they were about to strike at the Baba, it reared back with its partner.

Knowing that the water was poisonous, the three had to think quick. It was then that Shadow remembered the Bomblings that were in the chamber and Link's Gale Boomerang.

"Link!" He called. "Use your boomerang on the Bomblings! Then, aim them at those things!"

Link caught on as to what Shadow was saying.

While the boys distracted the Babas, Link used the Gale Boomerang to send a whirlwind at one of the Bomblings. This, in turn, caused the explosive creature to fly into the Baba's mouth. As the swallowed Bumbling exploded, the Baba cringed back into the pool as its counterpart met the same fate.

But just when it seemed to be the time to celebrate, another ripple began to bubble in the room, but more violently. This caused the two islands to sink as a gigantic, plant-like monster burst up from the water. And just when you think it couldn't get freaky enough, the creature roared at the three, opening its mouth to reveal its only eye.

This was the main body of Diababa.

As its Babas lunged at the three, Sonic growled.

"Shoot. And no Bomblings left."

However, Sonic had spoken too soon. For as the fight seemed hopeless, the ape that Link had fought earlier called out to them. It swung to the opposite platform to bring out a Bombling.

He was trying to help the girl that freed him and her companions by providing them with the ammunition they needed to defeat the monster.

Silently understanding, the trio continued to use the techniques they had used before. And when the third Bombling went into Diababa main mouth, the explosion caused the monster to collapse, leaving its eye exposed. Taking no chances, Link withdrew her sword and sliced off Diababa's eye. This caused the monster to cry out in sheer agony as the blood fell form the monster, causing it to shrivel up and explode.

The trio sighed in relief at their victory.

As the water became pure once more, the remains of Diababa took on a new form. It had formed into an unusual object that slightly resembles Midna's helmet. Speaking of which, as soon as the item levitated at eye level, the imp then reappeared.

"Eee hee hee! Well done! That's what I was looking for."

She then took the item with her hand-like hair.

"That's a Fused Shadow. It's what the light spirits call 'dark power.' Do you remember what the light spirit said? About how you had to match the power of the king of shadows? Could it really be so easy? Is this all there is to it? Eee hee hee!

"There's a total of three Fused Shadows. I think the other light spirits have the rest. If you want to know exactly what Fused Shadows are…Well, maybe I'll tell you if you three find the other two. I guess you'd better do your best to find them. Eee hee hee!"

Then, Midna made the Fused Shadow vanish, keeping it in her personal inventory.

"So let's not waste any more time here when we could be looking for the other two."

She then made another portal appear before floating over it.

"I'll get you three out of here."

Despite the irritation due to the lack of answers given to the three by the imp, Sonic, Shadow, and Link were relieve that they were one step closer to their goals. But…what power does the Fused Shadow hold?

Without another thought, the trio stepped into the portal. The disintegrating feeling returning.

* * *

When the trio reassembled themselves, the fond themselves back in front of Faron's spring. There, Faron's voice spoke to the three teenagers.

"Heroic Link, Sonic, and Shadow… Do not think that Hyrule is now saved from the spread of twilight. Leave these woods and go to the east, where you will find the land protected by the spirit, Eldin. There, young Link, you will find those you seek. But know that these lands lie in the twilight… They are now a dark realm covered by the clouds of dusk. If either of you set foot beyond the curtain of twilight, you will revert to your beast forms, so be prepared. Heroes chosen by the gods… Leave these woods and got to the east, to the land of Eldin."

Now aware of where to head next, Sonic, Shadow, and Link headed to the direction of the forest entrance, leaving the lands of Ordonna and Faron, to the dusk covered land of the light spirit, Eldin.

* * *

_Phew! Finally! The first official boss battle has been done. I hope I entertained you guys well. :) _

_I do not own Sonic, Zelda, or Beetlejuice._


	7. Chaos in Kakariko Village

**Chapter 7**

**Chaos at Kakariko Village**

With the first Fused Shadow in their possession, Sonic, Shadow, and Link were sitting on some stumps examining the map. According to the light spirit Faron, the next light spirit and Fused Shadow were to the east.

"There's a village in that area that we can rest in. It's called 'Kakariko Village. From the looks of it, if all goes well we'll be there by sunset." Link told her fellow heroes.

"But with our speed, we can get there in a matter of minutes." Shadow answered; unaware that Link had never seen Sonic run.

"What do you mean by that?" She asked.

Shadow, not wanting to waste any more time, told her bluntly.

"Have Sonic show you once we get to this area called 'Hyrule Field.'"

Sonic looked at Shadow, ready to protest. But before he could say anything, and to Link's surprise, Shadow took off at his usual speed. Seeing that there was no way out of this, Sonic spoke to Link.

"I'll show you once we get to this field."

A half hour later, after a few twists and turns on the path, Sonic and Link soon found themselves at the border of Faron Woods and Hyrule Field. Looking around, the two heroes noticed the western, northern, and eastern parts of the kingdom were still engulfed in domes of twilight. And it didn't help that their part of the field was the size of the Mystic Ruins back at Sonic's world.

"Whoa…we've got our work cut out here." Sonic exclaimed, having used to just speed around.

Now, his travels were limited thanks to the twilight. Looking to the east, Link spoke up.

"That's where we need to go. No doubt Shadow's already waiting for us…"

But before Link could finish, Sonic bent down and picked her up bridal style, surprising the green-clad hero.

"Hold on tight."

As Sonic had said that, Link did as she was told and wrapped her arms around his neck. And before she could say anything, Sonic took off at Mach speed. Within a matter of seconds, the pair went from the forest to the edge of the eastern twilight, where Shadow was waiting.

"Hmph! Took you long enough."

Sonic smirked at Shadow while setting Link down. Link was still struggling to figure out what in Hyrule had happened.

"How in the world did you do that?" She asked in shock.

Sonic, seeing this, grinned.

"Still in shock, huh? I told you I was the fastest person in my village."

Hearing this, Shadow spoke.

"Hmph. You mean 'second fastest.'"

As the two boys debated over who was the fastest, Link managed to regain her senses and strength as she looked to the twilight.

"You guys. I think it might be best to talk about your speed later. Did you forget about the twilight in front of us?"

But the argument had yet to fade, so she decided to wait for them on the other side.

"Midna? Mind if I go in first?"

Midna, sliding out of Link's shadow, giggle.

"Sure. I've got an idea on how to get those two moving."

Midna then entered the twilight and grabbed Link. While Link was shifting into her wolf form, Midna turned her attention of the two men on the other side. Giggling, she extended her hair again and grabbed the two and quickly pulled them in.

Once they've turned back into Were-hogs, they boys glared at the snickering Midna.

"What was that for?" Sonic demanded.

Midna just shrugged.

"How else are we going to get to the light spirit with you two arguing?"

She then levitated till she was just a few inches away from the boys.

"In any rate, we should get going. Unless you want to clear Faron Provence again."

The Were-hogs snorted as the imp returned to Link.

"Well, come on. We haven't got all day!"

A slight kick informed Link that it was time to get going. She hated the fact that Midna used her as a horse, but with the boys being upright in posture, she had little choice.

With little time to lose, the wolf ran on ahead, the Were-hogs following her.

They ran for what seemed to be a mile and a half when Shadow spotted something up ahead.

"What's that?"

Sonic, Link, and Midna looked in the direction the black Were-hog was looking at and saw that it was a broken branch. However, as they got closer, they saw that the branch was carved. Link recognized it immediately.

_**"That's the wooden sword I let Talo use!"**_

Once they've reached the wooden sword, Link's eyes caught something. It was a small cloud of yellowish smoke.

_**"What's that?**_"

"Everything alright, Link?" Sonic's voice brought her to attention.

Midna, who was watching the wolf's movements, understood what was going on and smirked.

"It's nothing to worry about. She's just seeing the scent of the stick's last owner."

This caught the attention of all three beasts.

"_**Seeing the scent?"**_

Midna sighed.

"Haven't they taught you anything in school? Dogs have higher senses than humans. So in other words, Miss Hero here can see scents that are invisible to the naked eyes."

She then turned her attention to the wolf in question.

"I think from now on if we need to use a scent to guide us, we'll call you."

Though the imp still irritated the wolf to no end, she did have a point. Even at a distance, the scent carried the smells of Talo, Malo, Beth, and Colin. And if she was to find them, she'll have to act like a normal wolf and take in the scent.

Link walked forward until she was a few inches away from the wooden sword. She then bent down her head and began to take in the scent. Sonic, seeing this, asked in confusion.

"What's she doing?"

Shadow and Midna both figured it out what was going on, but it was Shadow that told him.

"What do you think she's doing, you idiot. She's tracking by scent."

The duo continued to watch as Link memorized the scent. Once the scent was engraved into her mind, Link scanned the area until she caught a faint, yellow trail.

_**"There they are!"**_

Without another thought, Link took off in the scent's direction.

"H-hey Link! Wait up!" Sonic called.

Seeing that Link wouldn't stop, Sonic and Shadow decided to follow.

As the continued to run, the boys noticed that their wolf was heading in the direction of a canyon.

"Link! Wait a minute!" Sonic called.

But his call proved useless as the way got blocked by the twilight pillars.

"Damn! Not again." Shadow growled.

Like before, three shadow beasts fell from an open portal and attacked the three beasts. And like before, the trio disposed of them.

Once the beasts were gone, the boys made their way to Link.

"Link. You ok?"

Though panting, Link nodded. Shadow growled.

"Would you mind watching where you're going next time?"

Sonic growled back at him.

"Hey! It's not her fault. You and I both know those things come in at random."

As the boys argued again, Link and Midna looked to the canyon. What made this unusual was that there was an arch at the edge of the canyon with some boards on both sides. Midna spoke is surprise.

"What this? The bridge is gone! I wonder if it's the work of the shadow creatures. Ugh! What a pain."

As they were hearing this, the boys, who had stopped fighting once they've heard Midna's words, began to wonder what in the world happened to the bridge. As they thought, it was then that Shadow remembered the unusual bridge that was upright near the Forest Temple. Could that be the bridge for this region?

"Midna. I've just remembered something."

After he explained what he and Sonic found hours ago, Midna's interest rose.

"Hmm. So that's where they've put it."

She then levitated off of Link and floated to Shadow.

"What say we picked it up?"

But before anyone could say anything, Midna used the power of the portal that appeared and disintegrated with Shadow, leaving Sonic and Link alone.

* * *

**Meanwhile, miles away…**

As Shadow regained his senses after being teleported again by Midna, he found that he was facing the upright bridge again. Forming from his shadow, Midna reappeared.

"Hmm. You're right, Shadow. The missing bridge _is_ here."

"Question now is: How in the hell are we going to get that all the way to where Sonic and Link are?" Shadow questioned.

Midna gave a smirk.

"Leave that to me."

As Midna floated away from him, Shadow began to wonder what in the world was the imp going to do. His question was answered when an orange "spark" formed on the bridge. Midna then hunched over, growling as if she were trying to lift something heavy. Her arms (including her hair) then shot to the air. Seconds after, the bridge soon began to quake until it was levitating off the ground. Just as Shadow would a few seconds later, the bridge evaporated into the twilight portal.

* * *

A minute later, the bridge piece that was missing formed into existence as it was placed back onto its original mount. Soon after, Shadow and Midna reappeared in the center of the bridge. Seeing this, Sonic and Link ran over to the pair.

"What just happened?"

"It seems the imp is capable not only of teleporting beings through the twilight, but…"

Shadow then pointed to the black and teal green twilight portal that the beasts' originally came through.

"…after we defeat those shadow beasts, she can also use her powers to teleport us and items such as this bridge from one place to another."

"I know. Pretty impressive. Eee hee hee!" Midna teased. "But now that the bridge is back, let's get going."

Without another word, the three beasts and the imp continued to follow the scent.

The scent went on eastward until the trio of beasts came across an iron gate, closing off access to the trail ahead. Instinctively, Link found the softest dirt and dug her way under the gate and took out the creatures that Midna called Twilight Bulblins. She then waited for Sonic and Shadow to climb over the gate, joining her as she continued the scent.

The path lead on to a village nestled at the bottom of a canyon with a lake on the right. The buildings were made out of more stone than wood and built to the walls of the canyon. As the trio approached the area, they came across a sign. Sonic took a closer look as he read the sign.

"The name of this place is…Kakariko Village."

As soon as he announced the village's name, more Twilight Messengers appeared. (**1**)

"Don't these things ever quit?" Shadow groaned as they fought another fight.

Once each beast killed off a Messenger, the portal became available to the heroes' use.

As the heroes scanned the area, Sonic caught sight of the lake. And the golden light at the far end.

"To the heroes…who were transformed into beasts…in the realm of shadows…in the Twilight. This way…"

Realizing that the light was what they were looking for, the three heroes obeyed and approached the entity. Once they were close enough, it continued to speck.

"I am…a spirit…of light. Heroes…chosen by the gods. Take this vessel…and collect…my tears. Only then…will this veil…will be lifted…from this region."

As Link took the vessel, the boys began to examine the map that the light spirit altered.

"There are a large number of insects here in this village. The rest is a small number up the mountain to a village near the mouth of the volcano. We can split up and take care of the insects in Kakariko, but we'll have to stay close when climbing up 'Death Mountain Trail'."

Sonic sweat-dropped.

"Not so good for morale when the name of a place begins with 'Death'."

"Whatever the name, as soon as the insects are taken care of, the sooner the twilight is removed." Shadow concluded.

Upon deciding what part of the village they would take, the trio of heroes split up. While Sonic and Shadow began to comb the empty village for the insects, Link headed to the building nearest to the spring. As she approached a slightly closed window, her senses caught sight of a man in a wielding mask.

"How the heck am I supposed to babysit someone else's little brats when I oughta be savin' myself?"

At the man's words, shock came to Link.

_**"Someone else's…? Could that be…?" **_

Without another thought, Link looked around until she came across a wagon. Using that, she trailed along the stones and scaffolding until she reached the top of the building. There, she spotted a slightly covered hole in the roof. Seeing that as her only entrance, Link slide of the boards and fell in.

* * *

After she landed on her feet, Link focused her senses again and what she saw sent her emotions into an uproar. Aside from the man that was positioned near the window, she spotted the spirits of Malo, Talo, Beth, and Colin. All huddled around together near a dark-skinned man with long, dreadlocked hair dressed in white and brown shamanic robes. Next to them was a girl that can easily be seen as the man's daughter as she sat patiently.

Tears would've come to Link's eyes had the first man not spoken.

"Cripes! No sign of those black brutes anywhere."

From what Link could tell, the first man was frightened beyond measure.

"They've gotta be hidin' somewhere, waitin' for their helpless little prey to come out! Then they'll FEAST!"

From the look of the situation, the kids were becoming more scared by the minute and no doubt had come to trust the second man long before Link and her companions had arrived. Looking to the nervous Talo, the second man spoke in a deep, calming voice.

"We are safe as long as we remain in here, child. Be at ease."

Clearly not agreeing with the second man, the first man lifted his wielding mask and spoke in a sarcastic tone.

"Oh yeah? I wonder if the monsters out there agree with you. They sure didn't seem impressed by my bombs! How long do you think we can hold this sanctuary against beasts that strong, huh? Once they attack, it's OVER!"

He then began to tell of a tale that had happened earlier.

"Remember the lady from the general store? Just one of those things attacked her, and a whole gang from town went to save her! And what happened? She was already gone, and there were TWO monsters waitin'! You connectin' the dots? That means that if we get attacked by them, then we'll be…"

"BARNES!" The second man shouted, making the first man, Barnes, stop talking.

Barnes turned his head, scoffing at the second man. It was that moment that Beth burst into tears, frightened beyond words. As she cried, the second man eyed at Barnes, who in turn slide at the wall onto the ground, using his wielding mask to hide his sniveling face.

"Look, Renado. All I mean to say is that it's risky here, too! Ain't you got some place we can hide?"

Renado gave it some thought before he returned his gaze to Barnes.

"There is…a cellar."

Hearing this, Barnes scuffled quickly to the second man, his mask opening.

"WHAAT? You've got a CELLAR? Where's the entrance, man?"

Renado answered him.

"The entrance to the cellar is designed to open when all of the candles have been lit."

Upon hearing this information, Barnes quickly took a lit torch and lit an oil pot at the center of the sanctuary. As he was about to scuffle to the next torch, the new girl spoke, stopping him.

"I…would not do that. When Father instructed me to secure the cellar, I saw insects like the beasts outside."

Hearing this, the panicky man crab-walked back to his original spot until he hit the wall with his back.

Colin, turning his attention to Beth, spoke to the crying girl.

"Don't cry Beth. It'll be ok."

But Beth continued to cry until Colin spoke again.

"Link is coming to save us all."

This caused the girl to stop crying and gaining the interests of the remaining residents of Kakariko Village.

"I know she is. I can feel it. She and Mr. Sonic are coming to help us."

Link could only smile (internally) at the scene, proud that Colin was being brave and hopeful, despite what might was going on. Her pride shifted to annoyance when Midna spoke to her.

"These kids knew you'd come to save them. What a hero! How sad, to be right in front of someone and not be noticed at all. Eee hee hee!"

As Link growled at the imp, Midna continued.

"You are chosen by the gods, and only that keeps you from turning into a spirit, or worse, into a dark monster, when you enter the twilight. And no one knows what you have done. You may be doomed to toil in obscurity forever."

She then giggled.

"You're the type to worry about everything. I can tell. But don't fret over Princess Zelda! She chose this state of affairs, after all. Anyway, what's with having to light candles to get to the basement? Not very subtle, is it? So, what are you going to do now? My lonely little hero. Eee hee!"

Choosing to ignore the imp, Link walked over to the stick that Barnes held earlier and picked it up in her mouth. Lighting one end and ran over the ramp that was surrounded the back of the sanctuary. One by one, she lit the torches on the wall. And just like Renado said, once the torches were lit, the large owl statue in the center of the sanctuary slide open, revealing the entrance to the cellar beneath the statue.

"What sorcery is this? The entrance to the cellar opening on its own? Could those beasts have engineered even this?"

Link heard Renado spoke. The wolf shook her head as she entered the cellar to clear out the insects.

* * *

A couple of hours later, the three beasts found themselves back at the spring. Ever since Link found the kids in the sanctuary, the trio worked hard to find and collect the tears. During the trip up Death Mountain, they came across the first Howling Stone that the shade from the forest told Link about. Upon hearing the wind-blown tune, Link howled it until she learned the song. Once she did, the golden wolf appeared and howled the song with her.

After the howl summoned the shade, the wolf told the heroine to find him once she became human again. When Link returned to her companions, the map that they held shone to place a small wolf symbol back at Ordona's spring. Deciding to check it out later, Link continued up the mountain with Sonic and Shadow.

Once they've reached the top, it was where they came across the second village near the volcano. And another race in Hyrule. Large with stone backs was the adequate description of the Goron tribe's physical form. From the look of what Link saw, the Gorons seemed to be in some sort of a crisis of their own.

But seeing that there was nothing neither she nor her friends could do, Link continued on locating and destroying the last of the insects. Once that was done, the three of them were back in Kakariko Village, in front of the spring.

The spring accepted the small offering and once it was taken by its original owner, the twilight faded and the trio returned to their human forms. Midna appeared one more time before she disappeared again.

"Aw, I was just starting to have fun. Don't forget about that Fused Shadow. Eee hee hee! See you later."

Once Midna was gone, light began to shone brightly at the spring. From the small waterfall at the back of the spring, a sphere of light appeared and the light spirit took shape. The spirit took the form of a gigantic owl as he perched onto the sphere. It was then that the spirit spoke to the trio.

"My name is Eldin. I am one of the light spirits of Hyrule. I am the spirit that guards these lands. O great heroes chosen by the gods…The dark power you seek lies in the sacred grounds of the proud mountain dwellers. But already those grounds have been defiled, draped in shadow and seeded with evil. You must go to those sacred grounds and cleanse them."

It was then that Eldin folded his wings as he vanished back to whence he came. With their newest task ahead of them, Shadow spoke.

"I'll see you two in a bit. There's something I've got to do."

But before the two heroes could say anything, the black and red-haired man ran off in the direction of the cemetery.

"_What's he going to do at the cemetery?"_ Sonic thought.

But before the thought continued on, a voice called out to the two remaining heroes.

"Link? Sonic?"

The two turned their heads to the sanctuary, where they spotted Colin and the other children. As Colin started to approach the pair, he was knocked down by Talo and passed by Beth and Malo, who were ecstatic to see the former Ranchwoman and the foreign man.

"Ha ha ha! See, Beth? I TOLD you Link and Sonic would save us!" Talo called out happily, unaware that Link knew that Colin was the one who told the girl.

Despite that, Link smile on and raised her head, letting Colin know that it was alright to come and join them. Happily, the boy did so.

It was also then when Renado, who had been watching the scene, approached the two youths and spoke.

"You are the ones from Ordon whom these children speak of?"

"I am from Ordon." Link answered.

"I, and a fellow traveler, are from the sea. He went to the graveyard to pay his respects." Sonic spoke, though still unsure what exactly Shadow was doing in the cemetery.

Renado smiled kindly.

"We are well met. I am Renado, shaman of this town. And this…"

Barnes then lifted his mask, thinking he was going to be introduced. But the shaman guestured to the young girl next to him.

"…is my daughter, Luda."

Seeing that he wasn't going to be introduced, Barnes left to return to his shop, unaware of the damage that Link had unintentionally caused.

Colin spoke up.

"The beasts took us and left us to die…but Mr. Renado found us."

Renado spoke.

"At first, I couldn't believe they had come from so distant a place as the Ordona Province."

Colin continued on.

"Yeah, I… We don't remember much. All of a sudden, everyone was captured, and then…until now…it's been like…"

"…A nightmare." Malo finished.

"Yeah! It was like a terrible dream and we couldn't wake up."

Renado then spoke out his thoughts.

"Mmm…Nightmares are everywhere these days, it seems. This village has certainly seen its share of recent hardships. The dark beasts attacked, but even worse was the sudden change in the mountain-dwelling Goron tribe. They have long been out friends, but suddenly treated us as foes. Even now they refuse to permit us entry into their mines."

The three adults and the children then looked on to Death Mountain.

"It strains the limits of belief. To think that such a gentle and proud tribe could change so suddenly. It makes me wonder if something in those mines is the cause of this change."

Sonic and Link looked at each other, both sharing the same thought.

_"That's where the Fused Shadow is! That must be the cause like back in the forest!"_

It was then that the shaman looked back to the two heroes.

"In any case, you must take these children and flee this village before more nightmares descend. I, of course, cannot leave my village in such a time. There is no telling what may happen to us here. But it is my job to try and coax the Gorons back from their recent change of heart."

The children looked on to the two heroes, pondering on what to do. Link gave it some thought before she spoke.

"Renado, will you allow the children to stay in Kakariko for a while? I know it seems like not the best idea, but even if we leave early, it would still take us a while to get back to Ordon by foot. And from the look of these four, I think that they want to help you and Luda, since you were kind enough to help them in their time of need."

Renado gave some hard thought before he agreed with Link. Sonic then spoke up.

"And in any case, we want to help with the Goron situation at hand. I'm sure Shadow will agree with me on this."

"So you wish to reach the Gorons on Death Mountain? I am sorry, but it is far too dangerous for you two and your absent comrade." Renado answered. "They recognize only strength. A normal person could never persuade them, let alone three."

But it was then that Renado remembered something.

"But…I do know one person who was able to best them and earn their trust. His name is Bo."

He then turned to Link.

"You may know him as the mayor of you village."

Link remembered at that moment that in his youth, the mayor was once considered the strongest man in the village. If anyone can persuade the Gorons, it could be him.

With that information, the two heroes thanked Renado, who agreed to watch over the children during their travels, and parted ways. Sonic was about to join Shadow in the cemetery while Link was about to leave for Ordon again.

However, the thunderous sound of hooves halted both heroes as something was coming from the north. Looking down the path, the pair saw that it was a frightened Epona running rampart down the street. As the horse ran on, Link and Sonic dodged the charging steed. When Epona stopped at the base of the lake, Link took the chance and jumped on from behind. But with having already shaken off some bulblins that had tried to wrangle her earlier, Epona panicked and took off again, causing Link to nearly fall of and holding on for dear life on the saddle.

"Link!" Sonic called.

But Link held on tight and as soon as Epona stood on her back legs, Link quickly got back on the saddle and grabbed the reigns.

"WOAH, EPONA!" She called. "It's me!"

Recognizing her mistress' voice, Epona calmed down and walked to the spring to catch a drink.

Sonic then jogged up to the pair, careful not to startle Epona.

"Link! You ok?"

Breathing a sigh of relief, she nodded.

"Yes."

She then looked to her horse, then back to Sonic.

"I can get around faster on my own now. You don't need to carry me anymore."

Sonic was disappointed in not holding her for a while, but he knew that Link would be better off if she traveled by horse. And at seeing Epona run, the blue-haired man thought there was no horse better for her.

With all that done, Link rode off to Ordon while Sonic joined Shadow and told him what he had learned. But before Link went far, a voice called out of nowhere.

"HEEYYY!"

Looking ahead, Link saw a man in a white sleeveless shirt and shorts with a red hat and flag on his back run up toward her. She recognized him as the Postman who would run all over Hyrule Field and deliver letters. Upon giving her mail to her, the Postman then ran off to deliver more mail.

"Such an odd fellow. Eh, Epona?"

Epona snorted in agreement.

* * *

A couple more hours later and Link was back in the Ordona Province. After she learned the **Shield Attack** from the shade, she headed back to the village. The villagers greeted her warmly and were thrilled to hear that the children were safe in Kakariko. The last person Link saw was the mayor, who was thrilled that the children were safe, but both of them were still concerned with the fact that Ilia wasn't among them.

Placing that fact aside, Link informed the Mayor about the situation at Death Mountain.

"I see. So Renado told you that. Well, it's true. I did defeat the Gorons in a contest of strength and earned their trust."

The mayor then smirked. "With a little secret."

Link was intrigued. "Secret?"

"Yes. And without that secret, I wouldn't have won against the Gorons."

The mayor then gave the heroine a proposition.

"I CAN teach you the secret…but you absolutely, positively will NOT disclose it to anyone but Mr. Sonic and this Mr. Shadow."

Link nodded in approval when a voice spoke up.

"I swear too."

The sudden appearance by Sonic was enough to startle both Link and the mayor.

"You…where did you come from?" The surprised mayor asked.

Sonic grinned. "I told Link I was the fastest person in my village."

"You have no idea." Link muttered.

After getting some reassurance from Sonic as well, the mayor then lead the pair to the back of his house. There, there was a circular platform in the center of the room with two lines dashed in the center. It was rose couple of feet off the ground as well.

"Sonic. Link. You two have heard of sumo westlin', right?"

"I did." Sonic replied.

"A little." Link answered sheepishly.

The mayor continued.

"Well, Gorons like to match strength in sumo contests. Luckily for you two, the basics of sumo are the same as stoppin' chargin' goats. The rules are simple. If you're gettin' in a sumo match, chances are you are in an arena like this. The first fella to push his or her foe outside the arena wins. You can either grab a foe an push or an open-palm smack…"

* * *

A few minutes later, Sonic and Link were in the ring, having a practice match. To the youths' embarrassment, they had to remove their tunics. So now, Sonic was bare chested and Link was wearing a wrap around her breasts. This cause the pair to blush constantly and Sonic was doing his best to prevent a nosebleed from happening.

"Fighters, Ready!" The mayor called.

At the call, the pair exchanged sumo stances. After a few seconds, the mayor called out.

"GO!"

Though neither wanted to fight each other, they knew that they had to have this practice round. So, the competitors approached each other.

Sonic tried to grab Link, but she side swiped and countered with a slap. When Sonic was stunned, Link took this chance to grapple him and push him toward the edge of the ring. But Sonic wasn't going down that easily. He shoved Link off of him and managed to grapple her, despite his blushing face getting redder at their touch.

He pushed until they were about to reach the end. But Link was quick and recovered. She then side swiped again and managed to shove Sonic over the edge. But in a reaction based movement, Sonic grabbed onto the edge Link's pants and before either of them could do anything, they fell over the edge.

When they opened their eyes, Sonic and Link spotted in the awkward position they were in as Link was on top of the blue-haired man. Their faces got redder when Bo snickered at the pair.

"I don't think there are points for that."

Link got up and Sonic quickly did just in time as the mayor pulled him aside and handed him a clean handkerchief, which became red in a matter of second.

Chuckling, Bo told the youths, "I think you two have the idea."

* * *

After they pair put the rest of their clothes back on, the mayor then came out with three sets on unusual boots.

"You two did well, despite the ending results."

The pair blushed red again at the mere mention of Link's win.

"Anyway, these beauties are the secret to beating the Gorons. These Iron Boots will make you heavy enough to even stop a Goron from makin' you fly. Just remember not to tell ANYONE about these or where you got them and I won't tell anyone about what happened back there."

Heeding the man's advice, they two heroes headed out, but then Sonic was stopped by Bo.

"And just make sure you take care of her, boy. She may be strong, but there will be some things that only you can protect her from."

A slight blush at the mayor's advice, Sonic nodded and ran off to meet up with Link.

Both agreed never to speak of that situation ever again.

* * *

With the Iron Boots in their possession, the duo headed back to Kakariko. But…not to a peaceful scene. When they arrived, the duo spotted a trio of giant pigs with bulblin riders. On the largest and greyest pig was the largest bulblin Sonic had ever seen. But Link immediately recognizes him as the one who knocked her out and lead the raid in Ordon.

The bulblin then raise his arm to show the pair and Shadow, who had arrived a bit too late to save him, an unconscious Colin. The Bulblins then took off and when Shadow joined up with the pair, Link rode in full fury after the monsters. The two boys could clearly see her emotion from the way she rode.

"She's mad as Hell." Shadow spoke.

"Come on! We've got to go after them!"

Without another word, Sonic and Shadow ran after Link and Epona.

When they did catch up to her, the trio of heroes was greeted by a horrific sight. Standing a few meters in front of them was the King Bulblin and he was holding a large banner. Tied at the top of the banner was Colin. This sight even made Sonic and Shadow angry as Hell with the bulblin.

The bulblin the used his arm to gesture the three for a fight. Which they responded by drawing out their swords. The bulblin then took out a horn and blew into it. Before long, the field was littered with bulblins riding pigs. It was then that the King Bulblin took off. Seeing the situation, Sonic called out.

"Shadow! You and I will take care of these things! Link! You already know what to do!"

Link nodded as she rode off in full pursuit after the King.

With their combined speed and mastery of swords, the bulblins soon began to retreat from their fight with Sonic and Shadow. But both men knew that it wasn't over. And boy they were right.

They spotted Link on the province's bridge, but were unable to get to her in time as a bulblin lit the blockade at the entrance of the bridge on fire. A similar fire was taking place on the other side.

"Link!" Sonic called out in fear for the girl.

Seeing that there was no way to get to her, Shadow and Sonic ran to the edge of the canyon that the bridge was on and watched the scene before them.

On the other side of the bridge, the King Bulblin charged. Link motioned to Epona to charge at them, clearly starting her part of this bridge battle. As they were about a few meters apart, Epona jerked to the side and with a swift movement, Link slashed the bulblin.

When they charged a second time, to Sonic's dismay, the Bulblin was faster and slashed Link's left Upper arm. The blood oozed down her tunic as a burning sensation came over the wound. Her cry in pain was enough to send Sonic into a rage that Shadow had to pin him to the ground.

"You idiot! There's nothing we can do at this point!"

But Shadow's words fell on deaf ears as Sonic continued to struggle.

After obtaining several more deep slashes on her legs, arms, torso, and a kick to the stomach that caused her to begin to cough up blood, Link decided that this last move will end it. Once they were close enough again, Link kept her sword in its sheath and used all of her might to push-kick the King Bulblin off his boar and into the cavern. Epona stood on her hind legs again as she and Link overlooked their victory, giving Link a heroic look. At the edge of the field, the two boys stopped struggling and panted.

"I told you, Faker… She's stronger than she looks."

Sonic had to agree as the wounded warrior approached the riderless boar and cut Colin off from the banner. She then carried the boy as she rode Epona over the dying flames. When the boys reached the girl, she looked up and gave a relived, bloody-mouthed smile.

"Let's go back."

* * *

Once they have returned to Kakariko, Sonic helped Link off Epona while Shadow held on to Colin for her as Renado and the children gathered around them. When Shadow gave the girl the boy back, Colin began to stir. His vision caught sight of the three warriors, in particular, the bloody girl.

"Link…Is everyone ok?"

Sonic answered for her.

"Yeah, Colin. They are."

Seeing the group surrounding them, Colin smiled as he sighed.

"Good."

He then looked to Beth.

"Beth, I'm sorry. You know…for shoving you. Are you mad?" Beth smiled and shook her head.

Looking to Link, Colin continued.

"I…I think I finally understand. I understand what my dad meant when he told me I needed to be stronger, like you, Link."

He then lifted his left arm into the air and grasped at nothingness.

"He wasn't talking about strength, like lifting stuff. He was talking about being brave."

Colin then let his arm fall as he asked Link a question.

"Link…You save me, didn't you?"

Link gave a warm smile as she gave him her answer.

"It wasn't just me. Sonic and Shadow took part as well."

This caused Sonic to scratch his head as he chuckled sheepishly and Shadow to smirk as he leaned on the rock wall, watching the scene from afar.

"You…You three can do anything." Colin told them. "You can do something to help the Gorons in the mine too, can't you, Link?"

Link nodded just in time as the young boy passed out. In slight panic, Talo attempted to give Colin a piggyback ride to the nearest bed when Renado came and took the collapsed child.

Looking at Link's slash marks and the boys' scratches, Renado spoke.

"I will tend to him quickly, then I will see to your wounds."

He then looked at the sunset.

"It's getting late. Once I have treated your wounds, I suggest you three rest at the inn for the night."

The three heroes nodded at the shaman's orders and watched as he walked off with the children.

Once they were gone, Sonic, Shadow, and Link gathered at the spring and looked up to the Death Mountain volcano.

"You think we can take them on and get that Fused Shadow?" Sonic asked.

"We have survived one of the toughest fights we had in a long time. I think we can handle it." Shadow remarked.

"But we still need to get stronger. If it wasn't for my quick thinking…well…I'd rather not think that."

The boys nodded at their fellow hero.

They must get stronger.

Princess Zelda and all of Hyrule are counting on them and their peace with the Gorons of Death Mountain.

* * *

_Thank Gosh! Chapter 7 is up. Took me all day to write and I hope I have made you laugh and not puke at the gory parts._

_Notes:_

(1) I have found out that the shadow beasts that fall from Twilight portals are called Twilight Messangers, so I'll be calling those that from now on.

_Read and review, hold the flames please. :)_


	8. The Goron Mines and the Hero of Time

**Chapter 8**

**The Goron Mines and the Hero of Time**

After the chaotic events of the previous day, it felt good to actually sit down and rest for a while. After he, Luda, and Beth had taken care of Colin, Renado then tended to the heroes wounds. The girls had to stop watching over Colin when Renado needed help tending Link's wounds. Sonic and Shadow had only received minor injuries. So, after their scratches were treated and covered, the two former hedgehogs went outside for a bit.

Looking up to the fiery Death Mountain, Sonic explained to Shadow what was needed to get the Gorons' respect.

"Sumo wrestling? You can't be serious." Shadow spoke in disbelief.

"But I am. According to Ordon's mayor, strength is a key point in which the Gorons value most. And they challenge each other to sumo matches to test that." Sonic explained.

"And how exactly are we going against these…people? If Link's description of the Gorons is accurate, we would need to find a way to get heavy or an alternative for strength enhancement."

"Well, since Knuckles isn't here (as far as we know) _(A/N: That was a joke)_, our best chance is this."

Sonic then brought out a pair of the three Iron Boots that he and Link had brought from Ordon.

"These are yours. Me and Link each have a pair already."

Shadow took the boots and examined them. Looking back to the blue-haired man, Shadow spoke.

"We're supposed to hike up a volcano with these on our feet?"

"Not really. The fastest one who puts on their boots gets to throw a Goron off the trail." Sonic explained.

Sonic could see that Shadow was still in disbelief about the sumo wrestling bit. As long as he knew him, Shadow always acted cool among crowds. Now, he would have to embarrass himself to gain a foreign race's trust in order to get inside their mines. And Sonic knew Shadow hated to be embarrassed.

"Look. The sooner we do this, the sooner we can get that Fused Shadow. We'll just have to bear it."

"And I am sure the mayor taught you and Link how to wrestle as well."

To Shadow's confusion, the mere mention of the practice round in Ordon was enough to make Sonic blush.

"Why are you blushing?"

"Blushing? I-I'm not blushing!"

"Then why are your cheeks red?" Shadow inquired.

Feeling the heat on his cheeks, Sonic quickly made up an excuse.

"I-I-got sunburned. Yeah! That's it. Sunburn. But it's a light burn, so it'll go away in a while."

Hoping to avoid the conversation even further, Sonic took off to the inn. Leaving a bewildered Shadow behind.

When Sonic came inside, he looked up the stairs and saw Link. Each of her wounds were stitched and bandaged, though there were some blood stains on the white. She was out of her green uniform and was dressed in a pair of pajamas that were found in the abandoned village.

As he walked up the stairs, Sonic took notice at what Link was looking at. She was looking into Colin's room, where the boy was resting. Beth and Luda were in there as well, asleep from over-tending to Colin. The older girl had a smile on her face that made her seem to glow.

_"She'll make a good mother one day."_ Sonic thought.

Though it seemed weird thinking that because of its double meaning, Sonic could clearly see that it was the truth. Link had worked the hardest in their quest because she was worried about the kids. Now if they were to find Ilia, then maybe she will have less to worry about.

But that was wishful thinking. As long as the King of Shadows continues to spread twilight across Hyrule, there would always be worry. But Sonic had more experience in being a hero while Link was still an infant at this. He remembered the mayor's advice about being there to protect her. How can he when he didn't know what he should protect her from?

Deciding to put that thought to rest, Sonic returned to his room and fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, after being seen off by Renado and the children and obtaining iron shields, the three heroes were almost done making their way up the Death Mountain trail. Each time they heard a rumbling sound, the hero with their boots on the fastest would handle the Goron rolling toward them. The first few times were handled by Link, since she had a similar experience with the Ordonian goats. Afterwards, Sonic and Shadow each took a turn in throwing a Goron out of the way. Also, they had a couple of run-ins with flaming-arrow-shooting bulblins, which they had to avoid being shot.

In the end, it took a couple of hours before three made it back to the Goron Village. The village resembled a giant pillar of stone with some iron walkways and gates at certain points. High above, they saw a pair of Gorons spotting them. They couldn't hear what the two had said, but they watched as one Goron rolled into a stone-like ball while the other climbed onto him. Once he was on, the first Goron sprung open, causing the second one to fly to the top of a tall platform, where he disappeared inside a cave opening.

After seeing this, Link was going to attempt to reason with a Goron who was standing at the face of the cliff when Sonic caught sight of a shadow over her getting bigger and bigger.

"Link! Watch out!" He called.

He lunged at Link just in time as a rock the height of a three-story house crash-landed at where the latter once stood. Seeing that the rock was still hot from the volcano, Shadow muttered to himself.

"This place is a deathtrap."

Nearby, Sonic was helping Link up after body slamming her out of the way. Like with the sumo match from the other day, the two teenagers blushed as they were helping each other up.

"Is that what they call a traditional Death Mountain welcome?" Sonic joked.

After rejoining Shadow and Midna, the group then proceeded to climb the Goron Village.

Link tried to get the Goron to reason, but to no avail. In the end, the three heroes had to use the newly learned Shield Attack in order to use the Gorons to climb the village without hurting them, though Shadow was tempted.

However, when they were halfway up the village, the trio of heroes came across a hot spring, with Gorons relaxing inside. The Gorons in the spring seemed to be peaceful thanks to the spring and even thought their Elder told them that humans were forbidden to come to the village in such a terrible time, the Gorons in the spring greeted them, addressing them as Brothers and Sister and invited them to use their hot spring whenever they pleased.

Even Sonic though this was a good offer, even though he was terrified of water.

As the trio climbed the rest of the way, they began wonder about what Renado had said about the sudden changes in the Gorons' behavior. The Gorons in the spring seemed to be the type that the shaman had said was what their attitudes were. What did cause the Gorons to change like that? Could it be what they had discussed earlier about the Fused Shadow being true? Or was it something else? Whatever the question, the three knew as they were entering the top cave that their answers were just ahead.

* * *

When the trio entered the cave, they've found it in the style of an arena…and several Gorons present. The Gorons immediately took attention to the three humans and rolled up, beginning to roll rapidly toward them. The three each held up their hands, knowing that it would take a miracle to get out of this alive.

That is...until a voice yelled, "ENOUGH!"

To the heroes' surprise, the Gorons obeyed. The Gorons, along with Sonic, Link, and Shadow, looked to the opposite side of the room to see two Gorons moving to the opposite sides, letting an elderly Goron pass. He was a slight shorter that the other Gorons and had a red symbol painted on his stomach.

The elder then spoke out to the Gorons.

"Are these young ones such imposing enemies that you must all gang up on them? I think not, Little Brothers."

The three heroes watched as the Gorons walked away, allowing the three to approach the elder as he spoke to them.

"I am a Goron elder, little humans. I am called Gor Coron. Because of certain…circumstances, I must lead the Goron tribe in place of Darbus, our tribal patriarch. Tell me, little humans, do you come from the village below?"

The three nodded as Link explained the plight of Kakariko and their need to get inside the mines. Gor Coron then continued.

"You have done well to come this far. You are strong…for humans. However…"

He then folded his arms, giving a stern look.

"The mines beyond here are sacred to my tribe. Outsiders are not allowed. Unless…"

The trio braced themselves as the elder gave a smirk.

"I could make an exception…but all three of you would have to beat me in a contest of power. Are you willing to try that, little humans?"

The three humans looked at each other before giving Gor Coron a bow, accepting the challenge.

"Very well. But there will be one new rule. All three of you must beat me in the challenge. If one of you falls, none of you will access the mines. Understood?"

The trio nodded in understanding.

As Link was challenging Gor Coron, Sonic explained to Shadow on how to sumo wrestle, using the match before them as an example.

"_At least we get to keep our tunics on." _Sonic thought_. _

By the end of the match, Link was the first victor. This was followed by Sonic, who, despite the Iron Boots that he was wearing, used his speed to out maneuver the elder and win his match. Since he hadn't practiced before, it took Shadow a little longer before he won his match.

All three heroes had won the challenge of the Gorons.

Gor Coron then spoke to the three champions.

"Young warriors. You have strong wills…and sharp eyes. Fine traits. Want to see how well you can use them?"

This peaked the heroes' interests as the gathered near the elder. The elder then gave them the explanation of what was going on.

"You have seen it, I would bet. The mountain, erupting without pause. When the mountain began to rage, all four of us elders and Darbus, our patriarch, went inside to investigate its anger. We have a treasure that was entrusted to us by the spirits, and we must protect it. Do you understand?"

The three nodded.

"But the moment Darbus reached out and touched the treasure…everything went wrong. He collapsed…and before our very eyes transformed into an unspeakable monster. He began to rage through the mines, trailing ruin behind him…and the eruptions grew more frequent and more severe. We used all of our strength to seal him deep inside the mountain.

"It…grieved us to do this to our patriarch…but we had no other course of action. I ask this favor of you, young warriors. Go to the aid of Darbus. Make no mistake; the spirits have guided you here."

He then looked to the three youths.

"I, Gor Coron, need your help. On behalf of my entire clan, I ask the three of you for your aid."

The three nodded as Sonic spoke.

"We will do whatever we can to help."

"Good…Thank you." The elder responded.

He then looked to the two guard Gorons that revealed him earlier.

"You two! Let these young warriors pass."

The Gorons did as he told them and allowed the three heroes access to the mines.

* * *

Sonic, Link, and Shadow felt the immense heat hit smack into their faces as they entered the volcanic mines. The dangers of falling from great heights were replaced with rivers of molten lava.

_"How do the Gorons handle this heat?"_All three heroes thought.

"Looks like we'll have to time the lava before we jump across." Shadow muttered.

Not wanting to get burned by the fiery water, the two heroes agreed, although Sonic was as reckless as ever. As Shadow and Link crossed slowly, Sonic used his speed to quickly leap from stone to stone to the other side just seconds before the lava geysers went off.

"Show off!" The remaining heroes called to him.

As they went further into the mines, the three came across streams of a cyan, simmering ore that attracted their Iron Boots magnetically. At this discovery, the trio decided to use the ore for an advantage, which would prove valuable as they went further into the mines.

They used that to their advantage when they had to cross a water-filled room. As they struggled to walk on the ore in the heavy boots, Sonic made a mental note to thank the Ordonian mayor for providing the boots. At the end of the ore trail, the three heroes came across a doorway. When they opened it, they found an elderly Goron inside. He was a lot smaller than the other Gorons and on his head and points on his back, steam was coming out. He had medium-brown skin and had a cane in his hand.

Looking at the three youths, the elder spoke in a slightly deep, raspy voice.

"Ah…I thought I felt a presence…but what a surprise to find three young humans. Word has come to me of the three of you…and if Gor Goron has faith in you, then your hearts must be true."

He then introduced himself.

"I am one of the four Goron elders. Gor Amoto is my name. You are heroic, young humans. Please, you must lend this tribe your power."

He then handed Link an unusual-looking item that look like a blue stick with a yellowish crescent stone at the top.

Knowing of the youths' curiosity, Gor Amoto explained.

"That is one of the key shards that, when merged together, form the key to the room where Darbus is being held. He is our patriarch. The key is split into three pieces. Each of us elders keeps a piece. You must hurry to the other elders!"

With that said, Gor Amoto left the chamber to return to the village.

Looking at the key shard in Link's hand, Sonic spoke.

"So…in order to get to Darbus…"

"…we'll have to find the other two elders first." Link finished.

Shadow looked at the key before heading to the door.

"Come on. If we stay here any longer, _we'll_ be the elders in this mine."

As she placed the key shard into her pouch, Link followed the two boys.

* * *

After using the mines magnets to get to a door, the three heroes found a large chamber with a revolving horizontal platform with the ore at certain spots. Seeing that the platform spins once in a while, the trio quickly used the ore and their Iron Boots to remain on the platform without falling, even when they would end up upside down.

When they were right-side up again, the trio quickly headed to the next door, and found the second Goron elder. This Goron was a bit larger than Gor Amoto, but he was thinner, was the same coloring as the younger Gorons; had long, grey hair; and had red fish-lips with a beard hanging from the chin. He too, had a cane. He also took notice of the three heroes as he spoke with a raspy, high-pitched voice.

"Oh…Ah…The young humans. I am pleased to see you make it this far, Bruddas and Sista. I am the next elder of the tribe. I am called Gor Ebizo. You have heard of the plight of our patriarch. Otherwise you would not have come to see me."

Gor Ebizo then looked to Sonic.

"Here, take this, Brudda."

The elder then gave Sonic the second key shard, which resembled Link's, except for a golden piece at the side of the shaft. Placing the shard into his pouch, Sonic, along with Link and Shadow, returned their attention to Gor Ebizo.

"Now…There is one more shard, but seeing you has reminded me of the dangers that line the path to it. There is something that may help you. A weapon said to have been left in this mine by a hero of old. It is beyond price, and so we have protected it through generations. Now, when our tribe balances on the brink of ruin, it could aid in our salvation."

The elder then pointed to the door.

"The Hero's weapon is stored safely up ahead. Talk to the guard and take it with you, with the blessing of the Gorons."

Like with Gor Amoto, Gor Ebizo left the chamber and returned to the village, while the three heroes climbed up to the chamber's platform and headed out the second door.

Seeing the ore trail on the wall, the three heroes used their Iron Boots again. Once across, Sonic sat down, rubbing his feet.

"Hey. Let's take a break. For once, my feet are killing me."

Link sat down in agreement, her legs sore from dragging her iron-clad feet.

Shadow, however, was not stopping.

"Do what you want. But I'm getting that weapon."

With that said, Shadow opened the door and entered. To the heroes' surprise, the door was barred shut, like when Link had fought that ape back in the Forest Temple.

"What the-?" Sonic called out as he and Link tried to get the door open.

Seeing that it won't work, Link called to the door.

"Shadow! Can you hear me?"

Shadow responded.

"Yes! The Imp and I are locked in here and there's only one way out!"

"And that is?" Sonic asked.

"Passing a giant Goron!"

It took a few seconds before the translation came.

Shadow will have to meet with the guard of the weapon.

* * *

On the other side, after informing Sonic and Link on what to do, Shadow walked ahead to the interior of the new chamber. A platform of the metallic iron was hanging by chains over a large, lava pool. On the other side of the platform was the biggest Goron he had ever seen. He was also wearing armor.

The Goron, noticing Shadow, stood up from his post.

"Whoa…Human? What business does a human have coming here? None! No business! This is a forbidden place! I will protect this treasure from you!"

It was then the Goron jumped onto the ore platform, his weight causing the chains to break and fall onto the lava.

The Goron then readied for a hard punch. Shadow, thinking fast, pulled out his sword and scratched the Goron's belly. In slight pain, the Goron curled up and began to roll. With his Iron Boots already on, Shadow had the grip needed to grab hold of the Goron and tossing him into the lava. The lava only burned the Goron a bit before getting back onto the platform. _"_

_This is going to be a while."_ Shadow thought.

* * *

**Meanwhile, with Link and Sonic...**

While Shadow fought the Goron inside, Sonic and Link decided to wait until Shadow was done before attempting to open the door again.

"You think he'll be alright?" Link asked with worry in her voice.

Sonic sat down on the edge of the platform they were on.

"I wouldn't worry about him. When it comes to Shadow, best not get in his way."

Though she was still unsure about Shadow's predicament, sat down next to Sonic, letting their sore feet dangle as they get some air.

The grinding of the gears was the only sound filing the room at this point. Determined to break the silence, Sonic began to go over some items for conversation. He didn't know what to say to the girl. Especially since the awkward incident in Ordon. His mind drifted to the once peaceful village and the first couple of days he spent there. He remembered the buildings, the people, even the goats.

And it was with the memory of the goats that Sonic remembered what Fado had told him about the Hero of Time. Taking the Rancher's advice, Sonic spoke to Link.

"Hey, um, Fado told me something about a person known as the Hero of Time. Do you know of him?"

This question had surprised Link.

"How did you know of-?"

"Fado told me to ask you."

Fado. So that's it. He had always known that she told the tale the best and no doubt brought this. Seeing that it was going to be a while before they would get word from Shadow, Link submitted to telling the tale.

"Well…the legend goes like this. A thousand years ago, the world was recovering from a terrible war. The reigning tribes of Hyrule, after years of prejudice, had brought peace at last. But one day, a man of great evil found the golden power hidden within land and stole it. He used its power to take over the land and ruled it in seven years of darkness. But his reign would come to an abrupt end.

"For in the forest, a young boy clothed in the green of the Kokiri tribe had been having nightmares of the evil man before he took over. He was summoned by the spirit of the forest to deliver a gem known as the Spiritual Stone of the Forest, the Kokiri's Emerald to the daughter of the old king.

After meeting the princess, the boy was told that she, along with him, were sensitive to an evil presence beginning to shroud the land, which was made visible by nightmares. In the princess' nightmare, she saw dark clouds covering the land, bringing a terrifying feeling. But then the clouds dispersed when a boy in green, holding the Kokiri's Emerald and bathed in a golden light.

"The princess interpreted this and told her father, but he didn't believe her. And meeting with the king was a man from the desert, a dark aura emitting from his body. The princess immediately figured out that the man was what the clouds in her dream symbolized and asked the green boy to find the kingdom's treasure and protect it from the man.

"To enter where the treasure was hidden, the princess told the boy to collect the remaining two spiritual stones and meet her in the temple where it was hidden. The boy befriended and saved the two tribes that held the spiritual stones, proving his courage and strength.

"But when he returned to the castle a few days later, he found it in flames. He saw the princess flee with her nursemaid, throwing the key to the temple to him. He hid the key when the dark man approached him and demanded the location of the fleeing princess. Seeing that he had no answer, the man continued the search.

"The boy reached the temple and used the three stones and the key to open the gateway to the treasure. But the man from before had actually followed him and knocked the boy out before taking the treasure and becoming the King of Evil.

"But the boy remained in the temple, safe from the poison of the land. He slept for seven years, his body growing into a young man. When he awoke, he was greeted by the Sage of Light, who lived in the Sacred Realm, the place where the treasure was kept.

"The sage told him that in order to stop the King of Evil, the boy turned man must awaken the remaining five sages and find the seventh. With the Blade of Evil's Bane in his hand, the man had the power he needed to fulfill his quest. And since he still had the key with him, he was able to travel between his childhood and adulthood should he needed it. Thus, he received the title 'The Hero of Time.'

"He traveled all over Hyrule, awakening the Sages of Forest, Fire, Water, Shadow, and Spirit before finding the princess again, who was the seventh sage. With the sages awakened, the Hero of Time was able to defeat the King of Evil and seal him away before returning to the past to complete his childhood. And that's the Legend of the Hero of Time."

Sonic had paid full attention of the legend to the point where he had imagined the what things would have looked like. For some reason, he depicted the King of Evil with red hair and his symbol was a boar.

But when he imagined the Hero of Time, Link kept coming into the picture. This was made clear when Link continued.

"After the Hero of Time's quest was complete, he returned to the forest and lived peacefully."

"How do you know?" Sonic asked.

Link then removed her right gauntlet and showed him the three-triangle-forming-one-big-one mark on her hand.

"Because the descendents of the Hero of Time have this birthmark."

Sonic's eyes widened.

"Then that means…"

"Yeah. I am the last living descendent of the Hero of Time."

After Link told Sonic this _very_ interesting information, the gate that kept them out of the chamber that Shadow was in opened, leaving the door available to open. Sonic was the first to stand up, speaking up.

"Guess storytime's over."

* * *

**Meanwhile…**

Shadow had flung the Goron guard into the lava a third time before the giant gave up.

"Ugh...That…hurt a lot. Who knew that humans were capable of such feats of strength?"

The Goron then stood back up, looking to Shadow.

"Uh…Maybe…you are…going to see the patriarch of our tribe?"

Shadow nodded.

"I and two others are here to do that. But we were advised by Gor Ebizo to use the treasure that you guard."

Hearing this, the Goron spoke.

"Ah! So THAT is why you are here! In that case, take the weapon of the Hero of the past. But in exchange, you and those two humans with you must save the patriarch of our tribe!"

Shadow agreed.

The black haired man then heard the door opening, turning to find Sonic and Link coming in.

"Everything ok, Shadow?" Sonic asked.

"Yes." Shadow spoke bluntly.

As the Goron moved aside, the two heroes followed the dark one through the door. Once on the other side, Sonic began to asked questions.

The blue haired man's constant inquiring was about to send Shadow into taking his sword and sewing Sonic's mouth shut when Link spoke up.

"This is it."

Looking ahead to them, the two boys found Link picking up a bow and a quiver of arrows from a chest up ahead. The shaft of the bow was a dark wood with the two sections near the sight incased in metal. There were a total of thirty arrows.

Thinking the bow was hers, the boys were surprised when she handed Shadow the archery tools.

"You've beaten the guard; I think it's only fair that you keep it for now."

Sonic was a bit confused, since the bow was technically Link's birthright. Shadow was a bit skeptical, but when he remembered that Link took the Gale Boomerang from the Forest Temple and that it was he who had endured the fight a few minutes ago, he found that it was a fair trade.

He accepted the bow and the quiver quickly before a faint blush appeared on his cheeks.

"Thanks." He spoke.

Taking an arrow out, Shadow place the shaft onto the sight of the bow, pulled back the string and aimed it at a Fire Slug nearby. Once the target was in perfect sight, Shadow released the arrow and killed the Fire Slug.

"Let's get going and get out of here. I can't take much more of this heat."

As he walked ahead, Sonic told Link, "He has experience with projectile weapons."

"Then I'm glad I made the right choice in letting him use it." Link replied.

The two then ran on to catch up to the newly-appointed archer.

* * *

The trio went further into the mines and thanks to Shadow's archery talent; they were able to take down enemies better than before. This was helpful when they came across the Beamos, stone statues who shot a laser when you get close. Using his bow and arrows, Shadow defeated the statues by aiming at their one weakness, the eye.

Defeating the Beamos was how they managed to find the last of the elders. He was a charcoal color with yellow markings on his body and face. He had what seemed to be dreadlocks and a red collar. At lotus position, he was as tall as the three heroes. He began to speak with a medium pitched voice.

"Ah! You are here at last!"

He then stood up, revealing that he was a head or two taller than heroes. He was also the thinnest of the elders since they could see the shape of his ribcage.

"I heard that you three might pay a visit, young humans. I am farsighted in all things. I am called Gor Liggs."

He then handed the remaining key shard to Shadow.

"Here you go…the last key shard!"

Taking the two other shards from Link and Sonic, Shadow assembled the key. Gor Liggs then continued.

"If you use that key, you can open the room where Darbus, our tribal patriarch, is being held. Who knows how powerful Darbus is in his new grotesque form. But I suppose I should trust your power, considering you three came this far. Hurry now! To the patriarch's room!"

Like with the rest of his fellow elders, Gor Liggs left his chamber and returned to the village.

With the key assembled and the bow and arrows in their possession, the three heroes managed to reach the entrance to the patriarch's room. Looking at each other, the three heroes nodded, signaling that they were ready to fight. With little said; Shadow used the key to remove the giant lock and allowed the three heroes inside.

* * *

When they were inside the final chamber, the door closed behind them, making sure they didn't leave. The chamber was dim with only the magnetic ore that was on the floor lighting the area. Several pillars circled the chamber and there was something in the center. It was a black creature ten times taller than the heroes and had a pig-like mask on its face with a red jewel in the center.

From the way the creature was chained, the three immediately figured out that that creature was the patriarch of the Goron tribe: Darbus.

Darbus was breathing deeply, as if he was asleep. It was too easy to not be a trap. The instincts of the thee heroes proved right as the gem began to glow. As it did, red eyes lit up in the mask, showing the three that Darbus had awakened.

Seeing the three, Darbus roared and attempted to attack the three, only to find that he was chained. Immediately, fire exploded on Darbus' new body and with the help of the intense heat, broke the chains. He then roared again as the voice who introduced Diababa in the Forest Temple spoke again in the three heroes' heads.

"**Twilight Igniter: Fyrus."**

"Ok. Something is defiantly wrong with our heads!" Sonic called.

"No time to be thinking of voices! Mind the flaming monster ahead of us!" Shadow called as he aimed his bow.

Dodging the rampaging fire demon, Shadow shot at the gem, thinking that it would be like taking care of a Beamos. But that proved to be half right.

With the gem shot at, Fyrus held his head in pain as he ran on blindly in the chamber towards Link. Thinking quick, Sonic placed his Iron Boots on again and grabbed the chain that was attached to Fyrus' left leg. As the monster got further away, the chain's length grew tighter as Sonic held on. Thanks to the effects of the Iron Boots, Sonic was able to pull on the chain, causing Fyrus to trip and land on the ground in front of Link.

Shadow, seeing this, yelled to Link.

"Link! Aim for the gem on his head! That's his weak point!"

With their lives in danger and witnessing the effects of Shadow's arrow earlier, Link did not argue as she pulled out her sword and cut the gem.

But the gem was still working, even though it was half cut off and Fyrus rose again.

"Damn!" Shadow cursed.

"We've got to trip him again!" Sonic told Shadow. "That's when Link will have her opening again!"

Understanding this, Shadow got in front of Fyrus just as Link was rolling out of the way and shot at the gem again. Like before, the pain caused the giant to rampage blindly until Sonic pulled on one of the chains again, tripping Fyrus.

"Link! Now!"

Hearing Sonic's call, Link ran up to Fyrus again and use more force than the last to shatter the gem.

With his power source shattered, Fyrus began to roar and flail in anguish until the uncontrollable force could no longer be contained caused him to reel back as he roared for a final time as his mask blew up, freeing the Goron trapped inside the monster as he collapsed onto the ground.

Fyrus was Darbus once again.

Placing their swords back into their scabbards, Sonic, Shadow, and Link watched as the pieces of the mask formed one, smaller object. It was curved and had a ridge going down the "spine."

It was the second Fused Shadow. The item they were searching for.

With the Fused Shadow in front of them, Midna appeared from Shadow's shadow.

"Eee hee hee! Well done! Now we have two Fused Shadows."

As Midna took the Fused Shadow, she gave something some thought before she decided to tell the thought to the trio.

"Hmm…You know, you three have been very helpful so far. So as a reward, I'll tell you an interesting story."

She then spoke a name with disguised venom in her voice.

"Zant. That's the name of the King of Darkness who cast this pall of shadows over your world. He is very strong. You would be nothing to him in your current states. But Zant will never be MY king! I have nothing but scorn for his supposed strength. Not that your Zelda is much better. It still appalls me that this world of light is controlled by that princess. A carefree youth. A life of luxury. How does that teach duty? "

Not wanting to take anymore of Midna's harsh words toward Zelda, Sonic spoke.

"You shouldn't resent the circumstances of her life. She didn't choose it, after all."

"That is true. And I don't wish harm on her…"

Midna then shook her head, as if disposing a thought.

"No. As long as I can get my hands on the Fused Shadows, I'll be just fine."

She then opened a portal to the outside world.

"Well, just one more left…Shall we? Eee hee hee!"

"_There's something else she is hiding. But what?"_ All three heroes thought.

Looking toward the unconscious Darbus, Link asked, "Should we wake him?"

"I think he deserves some rest for a while. He'll return to the Goron Village when he wakes." Midna replied.

Taking her "advice," the three heroes allowed themselves to be teleported back to Kakariko.

* * *

Back in Kakariko Village, Sonic, Link, and Shadow reformed right in front of Eldin's spring. Like with Faron back in the forest, Eldin spoke to the three heroes.

"Heroic Link, Sonic, and Shadow. North of here, across the plain and past the great bridge, in the lands guarded by the spirit Lanayru…You shall find someone who you seek... And three of seven powerful treasures not of this world."

As Eldin's voice faded and the next location of the Fused Shadow and possibly Ilia was given, the trio looked toward the sanctuary, where Renado and the children had gathered. Colin, who had recovered a little from the events of the other day, approached the three.

"Link…"

Colin walked as far as the edge of the spring until he collapsed, causing Link to rush forward and aid the boy, with Sonic right behind her as Shadow stayed in his spot.

"Easy, Colin." Link told him.

Colin obeyed and looked up at Link.

"Ilia. You've got to save Ilia! Those monsters left me with the other kids, but they must have taken her somewhere else!"

This filled Link and Sonic with worry, but Colin continued.

"Whenever I thought I couldn't go on, I would think of you two and Ilia and hold on, Link."

It was then that Colin managed to stand up, giving Link and Sonic a reassuring smile.

"See? I…I'm fine now."

Seeing Colin's growing inner strength, Sonic and Link could not help but smile at the boy as the blue haired man helped the young woman up.

"Remember what I told you back in Ordon, Link? That I wanted to grow up to be just like you? Well…I think I have grown these past two days. So you don't have to worry about me anymore. Go help Ilia."

Renado then approached the youths.

"Leave the children to me. I will watch over them, I swear it. Do not let their fates trouble you. Go to those who need you."

Link and Sonic nodded, while Shadow remained silent and indifferent, trying to figure out the riddle that Eldin left them about seven treasures.

Renado continued to speak to them, despite Shadow's attitude.

"In Hyrule, countless tales are told of the Hero of Time…and the deed of you three bring them all to mind."

He then bowed,which was followed by the children.

"May the graces of the goddesses who shaped Hyrule bear you on your way."

The three heroes thanked the shaman for the blessing, but decided to stay in Kakariko one more night before heading out to the Lanayru Province. The shaman agreed to that and began to greet the Gorons who were coming down from the calmed Death Mountain to explain what had happened in Kakariko.

"I'm heading to the graveyard." Shadow spoke.

Link, looking at him, spoke.

"You've been going to that graveyard a lot since we came here. Is everything ok?"

"Yeah. I just want some peace and quiet." Shadow answered, departing for the cemetery.

Link was about to go after him when Sonic placed a hand on her right shoulder, stopping her.

"Don't worry about it. He likes being alone sometimes. And I think it's best if we gave him some space for now."

Though concerned for her dark friend, Link decided to follow Sonic's advice and leave him be. The two then began to help Renado and the children greet the Gorons.

* * *

In the graveyard, Shadow was sitting on a small stair way, leading to a ridge with a bluish boulder at the wall of the area. He placed a hand on his head and he spoke to himself, discussing the unusual symptoms he had been having since he met Link.

"What's wrong with you, Shadow? Your heart races, you begin to feel weak emotions like nervousness, you've blushed, and you've even sweat more when you get near Link! What the hell's wrong with you? You haven't acted like this since…"

He stopped at the name, taking the chance to look up to the sky and allow tears to fall from his eyes at the memory of…her.

"…since Maria."

* * *

_Phew! Sorry for the long wait. I had to go to a wedding this past saturday. I hope I have brought interest in the story even more with the seven treasures and Shadow's unusual feelings. And also that I have made the battle with Fyrus interesting. Thanks guys._

_Read and review, hold the flames, please. ^^_


	9. A Mother's Plea

**Chapter 9**

**A Mother's Plea**

_Ok. Chapter 9 is up. I highly recommend going on Youtube and listend to the extended version of Rutela's theme to get the full effect._

_I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog or The Legend of Zelda._

* * *

It was early in the morning when Sonic woke up. The sun had barley rose and everyone in the village were still fast asleep. He had gone to bed early since the events of the previous day had worn him out. So, when he woke up at 4:30 in the morning, he carefully got out of bed and got dressed, being careful so as not to wake Shadow.

As he exited the recovering inn, Sonic stretched his body as he took in the fresh morning air.

"Mmm. Today's the day we head to the last province, get rid of the last of the twilight, and whoop Zant's butt. Yeah. It's gonna be a good day."

But he halted his stretching as he realized that once Zant was defeated and everything was back to normal, there was no doubt that Shadow would work furiously in finding a way to get the two of them back home. And if that happens, what would happen to Link?

Speaking of Link, as Sonic looked toward the lake, he spotted her grooming Epona. She was humming a tune that sounded like he was listening to fairies dancing in the forest.

Link had woken up a half hour earlier than Sonic and decided to tend to Epona for a while. After the Bulblin attack two days ago, Link felt that Epona needed a bit of tender loving care. Besides, if Ilia could see the mess that was Epona, she would have Link's head. She had taken a bucket and some soap and washed Epona near the spring. Once she was clean and dry, Link found a horse brush from a run-down stable and began to brush Epona's coat.

She was humming a tune from the forest when she felt a presence. Backing away from Epona, Link spread out her arms carefully until she felt that she was close enough to the presence. Then, with swift movement, Link unsheathed her sword, spun around, and held up the blade. Right near Sonic's throat.

"Wait! Wait! I come in peace!" Sonic called, holding up his hands in defense.

Seeing that it was the blue-haired man, Link sighed in relief as she sheathed her sword.

"Sorry. I thought it was something like a Bulblin."

"I understand." Sonic answered.

Link then picked up the brush and began to groom Epona again.

"Giving Epona a bath?" Sonic asked.

Link nodded as she began to gently stroke the tangled white mane. After a few more seconds of silence, she heard the man's voice speak again.

"You're worried about Ilia, aren't you?"

At that question, Link froze, her head slowly looking downward.

"Is it really that noticeable?"

Folding his arms, Sonic continued.

"I've been noticing that look since the Forest Temple. Despite the brave face you put on, you're worried about everything. The kids. Ilia. The twilight. Zant. Everything we've been facing for the past few days. You do everything in your power to protect everyone and even risk death to shield them."

He then walked forward until he was inches away from her, taking in her scent as he continued to try and comfort her.

"Shadow and I are here for you. You don't have to worry this hard."

There was a few more seconds of silence before…

"…I made a promise."

Sonic raised his eyebrow at the statement.

"A promise?"

Link resumed grooming as she let her memories come to her mind.

"When we were little, Ilia and I were exploring Ordona's spring when she decided to go and explore the woods. She said that it was going to be a few minutes, but it turned into an hour before I decided to go look for her. I found her surrounded by Skulltulas, crying in fear. Using a sharp stone I found nearby, I stabbed the monsters, causing them to run. When I went to check on Ilia, she cried harder onto my shoulder, absolutely terrified. I made a promise to her then and there that I would be there when she needs me."

Link then clenched her fist as she remembered the attack on the village.

"But when we were attacked by the Bulblins, I was knocked unconscious before I could do anything."

Sonic then saw that her body was quivering, trying to hold back tears.

"It's my fault. If I was quicker…"

It was then that Link was grabbed by the shoulder, turned around, and found herself against a strong, hard chest. She felt one hand on her back, the other on the back of her head.

"Don't you even _**dare**_ think that what happened was your fault."

She was stunned at how serious he was. She'd expected that tone from someone like Shadow, but not from Sonic.

"I couldn't protect the kids either. But I had faith that they were alright. And they were. And I am positive that Ilia's alright. She's your best friend, right? I'm sure she'd understand that at that time, you tried. If she heard that you were crying over her safety, then she'll be the one worrying. And you don't want her to worry, do you?"

He held her tightly.

"You don't have to put that false face. You are free to cry when needed. And it looks like you need it."

He then gently pushed her head into his shoulder.

"My shoulder is yours. Use it."

That did it. As if those were the magic words, Link buried her head into Sonic's shoulder and let the dam burst, her arms wrapping tightly around the Blue Blur's torso. As he heard her muffled sobbing, Sonic tightened his embrace, resting his head on hers, closing his eyes as he used his inner power to heal the emotionally exhausted woman.

"I worry about you too, you know."

Even though she kept crying, Link's attention was on Sonic's words.

"I mean…You aren't like the girls where I'm from. You're…something else. You're athletic. You're strong. You're smart. You're compassionate. And...you're beautiful."

_That_ caught Link's attention.

"What?"

Realizing what he had said, Sonic blushed, stuttering uncontrollably.

"I-I…what I mean is-! That is…"

"_I love you_." He thought.

He didn't know why he'd thought that, all that he knew what that it was true. That he, the most eligible of all bachelors, fell in love with the young woman who was crying in his shoulder.

Both heroes blushed heavily, Link looking up at his embarrassed face, Sonic looking down her shy-blushing, tear-stained one. It was then that their faces were slowly begun to magnetically pull toward each other. Neither one of them knew what was going on, but they didn't seem to mind. It was as if, subconsciously, the wanted to kiss. They then slowly closed their eyes as they prepare to make contact.

But as their lips were about centimeters apart, a familiar voice called out.

"Sonic! Link!"

Immediately, the two youths let go of each other and began to cover their blush. Link, turning to Epona who was, thankfully, a silent witness as she wiped her face with her hand, removing the tears. Sonic began to pet the horse's muzzle, doing everything in his power to hide his blush. Their blushes thankfully subsided as Shadow approached the pair.

Noticing the stiffness of his fellow travelers, he asked, "Did I interrupt something?"

"No. We were just talking." Sonic spoke, his speech slightly speeded.

In his mind, he wanted to beat Shadow to a pulp for interrupting his close kiss. Shadow scoffed.

"Whatever. When you two are done 'talking,' gather your supplies and prepare to head to the Lanayru Province."

The pair nodded as the black and red man walked off.

Unbeknownst to them, Shadow had unintentionally witness the entire event. He woke up a few minutes after Sonic and came down just in time as Link put her sword away. He did snicker a bit at the blue-haired man's reaction to having a blade near his throat. But his dark grin turned into a sentimental frown as Link expressed her worries and fears to Sonic. He tensed up when Sonic embraced Link, for some odd reason, not liking that kind of contact between the two. Before, he couldn't care less.

But Sonic was right about one thing. There was something else about Link that made her interesting, even to him, who had hardly felt such positive emotions. As he heard her muffled crying he found himself wanting to comfort her as well. Wanting to hold her and tell her that it was alright. He finally had enough when he noticed that Sonic and Link were about to kiss and put an end to it. He kept quiet about witnessing the event for Link's sake. After all, he found the woman both interesting and tolerable, traits that were hard to find when it came for women to Shadow. But why he was feeling these strange feelings toward Link is a mystery, even to Shadow.

Deciding to get on with the quest, the three heroes headed toward Barnes' shop to pick up an order of bombs they had placed the night before. As soon as they were several feet away from Shadow, Link whispered to Sonic.

"Ahem. Thanks. You know…for the pep talk?"

"No problem." Sonic replied, another blush appearing on his face.

He then thought bitterly as he looked at the black-haired man in front of them.

_"Defiantly punch Shadow in the face later."_

Once they had the two bags of Water bombs and regular bombs, the three heroes bid farewell to everyone in Kakariko and headed to the northern part of the village. Sonic and Shadow on foot, Link on Epona. Looking at the map, Shadow explained the route.

"By far, the best way for us to reach the Lanayru Province is to head north, passed the Bridge of Eldin and through a canyon that trail over the northern part of the kingdom. From what I can tell, the spring should be somewhere between a large lake and the center of the kingdom."

Without another word, the trio ran/rode north until they came to the bridge that Link fought the King Bulblin.

"Sure brings back memories." Sonic muttered sarcastically, remembering the wounds Link had received on this bridge.

"Will you shut up about that, Faker? You're driving my insane." Shadow whispered harshly to the blue-haired man.

Sonic rolled his eyes at Shadow as the three of them ran across the bridge. But as they finished crossing, the stone pillars reappeared.

"Not the Twilit Messengers again." Sonic groaned.

"Let's take care of them quick." Link spoke as Shadow silently agreed.

She got off Epona and ran alongside the two men to the bridge, where three Messengers were waiting for them.

After the Messengers were slain and a new portal was available, the three then continued northward toward the twilight. Once they were close enough, Link got off of Epona again and stroked her muzzle.

"Ok, Epona. I'll have to continue on foot from here. Wait here until the twilight is gone and keep safe until I call you. Got that?"

The horse nodded before she ran off to find a hiding place.

With that settled, Shadow approached the wall of twilight, causing Midna to appear from his shadow.

"Well. It's about time. I was beginning to wonder when you three were going to come."

"Save it, Midna. Can you pull us into the twilight again?" Shadow spoke.

The two remaining heroes gave the black and red man dagger-glares as Midna giggled.

"To the point, as always. I like that. Wait here for a moment."

With that said, Midna entered the twilight and pulled the three heroes through.

* * *

When the three opened their eyes, they found that their bodies were in beast form again.

"To think that this might be the last time we'd be in these forms." Sonic spoke.

Shadow nodded in agreement, looking at the map as he walked ahead of the first Were-hog and the wolf.

"This path leads to the northern field. From there, there are two ways. One to the center of the kingdom, which is Castle Town, the other, to the Bridge of Hylia. We should…"

But before Shadow could finish his sentence, Link spotted something in the distance and ran toward it.

"Link! Wait!" Sonic called as Shadow growled in annoyance at the wolf's movement.

"Damn wolf-woman."

But Link had a reason to act like that. As she approached the object, she got a clearer look at it and nearly paled. On the ground was Ilia's leg satchel, potent with her scent which took the color pink in her eyes.

**"**_**Ilia!"**_

Without another word, Link took in and memorized the scent, ignoring the calls from her comrades, and took off once she could see the scent with her special sight.

"Link! Hold up!" Sonic called again, but his call was in vain as the wolf ran faster to follow the scent.

Link followed the scent past the small bridge, only to stop to see the castle that Princess Zelda was now in as well as allow Sonic and Shadow to catch up and Midna to readjust herself on her back. Once the Were-hogs were close enough, the wolf continued to ran on. She ran passed a walled path until she was at the fork, which she took the left path to Castle Town.

But just as she was about to enter the gate to the town, Link was ambushed by another batch of Twilight Messengers. Thankfully, Sonic and Shadow managed to catch up enough before the columns had struck the ground. So once again, the three heroes fought and defeated the Twilit Messengers. But once the last of the Messengers vanished, Link wasted no time in dashing though the gates of Castle Town, the two Were-Hogs followed behind her.

As they entered the town, the trio took immediate noticed at the mass of spirits that roamed the city.

"This almost reminds me of a horror movie I once saw." Sonic whispered to Shadow.

"I know what you mean. It's a little unnerving seeing the people that live here like this. I say your girlfriend is the lucky one with her enhanced sight."

Sonic nearly tripped on his hands as he heard that last sentence.

"She's not my girlfriend. She's just a girl who's a friend and a fellow hero."

"Whatever. Let's get moving or will lose her."

Sonic gave a light growl at the black and red Were-Hog as the followed Link into the southern part of the city.

They managed to catch up to the wolf as she was going into a bar. Raising an eyebrow each, the two Were-Hogs went inside after her. There, they saw Link staring at a trio of spirits at a corner of the bar. They were unaware what Link was staring at, so they decided to rest while Link watched the scene before her.

Link, upon entering the bar, turned on her enhanced sight to get a good look at the spirits. And there, sitting on a chair, looking away from the wolf, was Ilia. She was looking at what seemed to be a fish-like child alongside a portly woman who had red hair in dreadlocks tied in a ponytail and was dressed in a yellow shirt with a black jacket and a red skirt and brown boots.

The boy almost looked human except for his grey-blue and pink scales. He had he had fins on his arms and had flippers for feet. His head almost resembles an upward cap with what seems to be a shell at the end. His rim "fins" on his head bore unusual earrings as well as a series of necklaces around his throat, an anklet on his left leg, and a canteen tied to his waist. From the way it looked, the boy wasn't well.

"This boy…can you save him?" Ilia asked the woman.

The woman responded.

"All right, little lady, try to settle down, OK? I just now sent for the doctor. But this is strange. A child of the Zora. I wonder if this is at all related to the incident the soldiers were talking about in the back?"

Midna then teased Link a little.

"Aw, what an emotional reunion. Yes, a girl and her wolf. Eee hee."

Link narrowed her eyes at Midna as Sonic and Shadow tried to listen in.

"Sorry, but you know how it goes. These folks can't see you, either."

Deciding to ignore Midna for now, Link looked to the back part of the bar. There, she saw a group of Hylian soldiers surrounding a map. Motioning to Shadow, Link headed over to the area. Shadow saw the map on the table and figured out immediately what the wolf was trying to tell him.

The black and red Were-Hog looked at the map and began to scribble something on the map he has while Link listened in on the soldiers' spirits.

"I've received orders from above to investigate why we can't go to the spirit's spring in Lake Hylia. Got that?"

"_**You have no idea."**_ Link thought to herself.

She then looked at Shadow, who was finishing up marking the map.

"This is where we need to go?" He asked her.

Link nodded.

"Very well. Let's get Sonic and head out."

As they gathered their friend and started to head out, Link looked back and Ilia for a bit. Sonic, seeing this, slowed his pace as he spoke to her.

"One of those spirits was Ilia, wasn't it?"

Link nodded, her head hanging low.

"You don't need to worry now. She's ok. All that we need to do is get Lanayru's light back to him and everything will be back to normal."

But something was telling Link that even with the last of the twilight gone, it won't be over.

* * *

Within minutes after catching up with Shadow and Midna at the western gates, the group headed for the third path that went southwest even further. They walked for three miles before they came in sight of a large bridge that crossed what seemed to be like the biggest gorge in Hyrule. Looking over the edge of the cliff, the ravine went on for what seemed to be two miles downward. And holy cow, that was one deep gorge.

"Whoa…that's deep." Sonic muttered as he looked down at the valley.

Looking at the map, Shadow told the group the name of this place.

"That bridge is the Great Bridge of Hylia. That means that down below is the largest lake in all of Hyrule: Lake Hylia."

Sonic paled as he looked at the map to see how big Lake Hylia was. And he was not thrilled.

"Uh…are you sure _that's _Lake Hylia?"

"It is, idiot. Don't tell me you're afraid of heights." Shadow muttered.

"Not heights. Just water."

Both Shadow and the girls each raised an eyebrow at the blue Were-Hog. Midna then went into a giggling frenzy.

"Eee hee! So the fastest blue beast alive is afraid of water? Eee hee!"

Her giggling caused Link to shake her body in irritation, nearly making the imp loose her holding. The wolf then gave a low growl at the imp, telling her in the wolfish way to be nice.

"Oh, brother. Well…let's get down there, find the light spirit, and figure out what to do next." Shadow spoke as he pulled Sonic over towards the bridge with Link and Midna right behind them.

As they walked on the bridge, the three beasts felt an odd liquid on their hands. Well…paws in Link's case. Their suspicions rose as the smelt something odd from the odd liquid.

"Ugh! What's that smell?" Midna asked.

"Smells like…"

Sonic stopped as he and Shadow recognized the scent.

"LIGHTING OIL!"

The two Were-Hogs yelled as a Twilit Bulblin appeared on the other side of the bridge right in front of them. It pulled out an arrow, lit it on fire, and fired it over the group, landing at the entrance where the oil began, causing it to light on fire. The Twilit Bulblin fired again. This time, it hit a few feet in front of it, causing that end to alight. The flames at both ends began to trail toward the trapped heroes.

"Holy crap! We're trapped!" Sonic called out, cursing the twilight even further now that his speed was limited to that of a normal beast.

"Damn! No way out either!" Shadow growled, beginning to find a way out in Desperate mode.

All four looked until Link found that there was one way out. She rushed toward Sonic and began to push him toward the border of the bridge.

"Wha-Link! What are you doing?"

Shadow, looking at Link's actions, figured it out. Looking over the edge, He could see Lake Hylia below. His eyes widening, Shadow called to Link and Midna as he grabbed Sonic's arm.

"Link! You and Midna go ahead! I'll take care of this one!"

Shadow then quickly grabbed Link and hoisted her onto the wall of the bridge and before Sonic could do anything, Link jumped.

"Link!"

Sonic tried to reach over the edge to grab her, but Link was already falling into the lake below. He was then caught by surprise as Shadow lifted him with his gorilla-strength to lift the blue Were-Hog up.

"Going down!"

Shadow yelled as he threw Sonic over the edge before jumping over with him, just in time as the flames were closing in on him.

The two Were-Hogs fell for what seemed to be like ages until they were greeted by something cold. Opening his eyes, Shadow saw Sonic sinking deeper into the lake. Since he could swim, Shadow grabbed Sonic and pulled him toward the surface. Once they had broken through the aquatic sheet, they began to gasp for air as Link dog-paddled toward them.

"Hey! You guys ok?" Midna asked.

Panting, Shadow answered.

"Were fine…girls. Although Sonic isn't happy."

"*cough cough* You think?" Sonic coughed.

"Well…let's get to shore. And see if we can find the spring from there."

As they paddled, they noticed that the lake seemed...smaller than on the map.

"Hey Shadow, haven't you noticed that there's less...I don't know...water, than what the map said?"

"The map hasn't failed us so far, Imp. But I am concerned as to the water level of this lake."

As they made it to shore, they took notice of three spirits near the lake. Looking to Link, Shadow asked her to use her senses to check out the situation while he helped Sonic out of the lake-turned-pond. Link, nodding in agreement, turned on her "wolf-sight" to find three individuals crouching by the water. They resembled the same kind of beings that the boy at the bar was, only these three were adults with 'fin's at the backs of their skulls resembling Link's hat and they wore fish-like masks on their faces with aquatic-like spears in their hands. The first figure, whom Link remembered was called a 'Zora,' spoke.

"We've had absolutely no water flowing from upstream."

The second then spoke, shaking his head.

"There's no mistaking it. Something must be wrong at Zora's Domain. It's the source of all the water in Hyrule, after all."

"But how can we get home? With the way things are now, we can't even walk back."

Link then looked to the third Zora, who was closer to the water than his fellow Zoras.

"The drop in water has been faster than predicted. At this rate, Lake Hylia will be dried up. It's a race against time."

Link then surveyed the area until she spotted one more spirit by an odd building several yards away. She ran over to the building and focused on the spirit there. It was an odd man dressed up like a clown, only without the red nose. He had his hands in his pockets as he sighed.

"Oh…I'm too old for this. "_**Fyer and Falbi's Watertop Land of Fa**__**ntastication".**_ It's our grand reopening at our new lake-bottom location. Whee."

He then looked at the remnants of Lake Hylia, clearing his throat.

"Yeah, nice lake. Don't lakes have more…I don't know…water?"

He then looked up to the opening that Link figured went upstream.

"Did the Zoras who live upriver do something?"

He then looked to what seemed to be the entrance of a shrine.

"Or is it a curse from that spirit that floats around up there? Whatever. It's not like I can go up and complain. That's way too high."

The man then spotted something in the distance.

"Whuzzat, a customer?"

He then ran back inside the building.

"YIKES! IT'S A MONSTER!"

Link, looking in the direction that the man looked, saw a Twilit Bulblin standing near some Hawk Reeds, no doubt looking for intruders. Link then gestured her head to the Twilit Bulblin for Sonic and Shadow to see. Seeing the Twilit Bulblin, the two Were-Hogs nodded at Link and the three beasts made their way to the monster.

The Twilit Bulblin, seeing the three beasts, plucked a Hawk reed and blew into it. This caused a gigantic Twilit Kargarok (_A/N: The damn twilight birds with that irritable horn sound. Yeah. I really hate those birds.) _to fly down. The Twilit Bulblin got on its back and began to attack the beasts by swooping down at the trio. The three dodged the bird and began to scatter.

"Damn! That was too close." Shadow growled.

"I'll take care of that!" Sonic yelled.

The blue Were-Hog then reeled his arm back, leaped up as the Kargarok got close, and punched the Twilit Bulblin off the giant bird. Link then ran in to rip the monsters throat out. With the Twilit Bulblin dead, all that was left was the Twilit Kagarok. However, before any of the beasts could get to it, Midna floated from Link's back and mounted herself onto the monsters saddle. The monster bird flailed as Midna called out.

"Hey! Stop it! I'm your new master now! Settle down!"

At that moment, the Twilit Kargarok did as it was told and calmed down.

"Nice job, Midna!" Sonic called out to the imp.

Link snorted in approval while Shadow rolled his eyes and muttered, "Whatever."

It was then that Midna got an idea.

"Hey! Why don't we use this guy to get us all the way to the lake's water source?"

The trio raised interested eyebrows at this.

"You know…that might work." Sonic spoke.

"I'll have to admit, that's a good idea." Shadow spoke.

Link nodded in approval as the Were-Hogs got on the monsters back as Midna ordered the Twilit Kargarok to swoop down and carry Link.

They then headed up the river, on the way to the source of all Hyrule's water supply: Zora's Domain.

* * *

As they headed further up the river, all three of them noticed that it was getting colder. And they weren't that far north of the kingdom. The Twilit Kargarok went as far as the entrance of Zora's Domain before the three beasts decided to walk the rest of the way. They walked past the cavern's opening to find a frozen waterfall on the other side of a barren, snow-covered lake.

"So this is Zora's Domain? Not what I expected." Sonic spoke.

"That's because there's no water, you idiot." Shadow growled at Sonic.

"Hey! What's your problem anyway?"

"You! That's what."

As the two Were-Hogs growled at each other, ready to fight each other, Link walked toward the waterfall, ignoring the petty fight between the males. They stopped as they caught Link climbing up the waterfall by jumping onto the outstretched ice.

Deciding to set their fight on a later date, they hurried to the water fall and caught up to Link and Midna, who were at the top. Once they were at the top, Midna scoffed.

"About time! I thought you two were never gonna stop."

_"__Is it just me, or does she sound bitter when it's cold out?" _Both Were-Hogs thought.

They entered the large chamber at the source of the waterfall and found three Twilit Messengers waiting for them.

"Oh, joy. Third time today." Sonic spoke sarcastically, with Shadow and the girls agreeing.

Once they took care of the Messengers, Link looked down into the water and saw a mass of spirits. She jumped as she turned on her "wolf-sight" only to find the entire Zora people, frozen in the ice. Even Midna jumped a little as she looked through Link's eyes via spell to see the frozen fish people.

"Th-those are the Zoras!"

The two Were-Hogs looked down at the spirits frozen in the ice and nearly jumped back. Looking at his friends, Sonic spoke.

"Why don't Shadow and I punch the Zoras out of the ice?"

"Not good. Even with our strength, it's not enough to break the ice. We need to figure out something else." Shadow answered.

Link looked on at the frozen people as she thought to herself.

_**"**__**If only we were back at Death Mountain. Then we could…" **_

It was then an idea came to her mind. Heat! That was the answer! Going over her memories, Link grabbed the map from Shadow's satchel and unrolled it, looking at the parchment. Midna, seeing this, realized what she was thinking and look to the guys.

"You two better get back. Our wolfish friend has an idea. A big one."

Without another word, Midna teleported herself and Link out of Zora's Domain, leaving the Were-Hogs behind.

"What did she mean by that?" Sonic asked.

"I don't know. But I have a feeling we'd better do what she says."

The two males got out of the way just in time as the large, flaming boulder that nearly crushed Link back on Death Mountain came crashing down onto the ice. The startled Were-Hogs moved back a little more as the extreme heat from the stone melted the ice, causing the water to burst out of the chamber and into the river like water coming from a cut-off hose.

One by one, the spirits of the people began to move out of the water. It was around that time that Link and Midna materialized on one of the stone walkways of the room. Sonic and Shadow then ran toward the two females.

"Link! Midna! You alright."

"Yes. We're fine. But who knew something so dangerous can be useful?" Midna replied for the both of them.

Shadow then spoke.

"Lake Hylia should be filled up right about now."

"Oh, joy. Be still my beating heart." Sonic spoke sarcastically, not liking this new quest even more.

"Well, come on. Let's go to the spirits spring." Midna replied.

The beasts nodded.

But as they were about to leave the chamber, a soothing voice called out to them.

"Wait!"

It was then an apparition appeared. One Sonic and Shadow could even see.

It was a Zora woman, but she seemed more regal than the others of her kind. She had fins on the sides of her head that resembled hair, flowing bell-shaped fins on her arms, and another kind of fin that resembled the skirt of a dress that went passed whatever ankles she had. She was wearing a gold choker with a blue stone on it, a three sapphire necklace, and a third necklace that trailed down her body, an unusual symbol at the center of her body. She had a very kind look on her face. One that was also grateful and pleading.

She was very lovely, and also a bit sad.

"Please, you must allow me to thank you for revitalizing both my people and this spring, which is the water source for all the lands of Hyrule. In life, I was the elder of this Zora village and the queen of my people. I was called Rutela."

The three beasts approached the specter of the Zora queen as Midna spoke.

"Not to be rude, but we didn't exactly do it for you guys."

Shadow nudged Midna, telling her to be quiet as Sonic asked a question.

"Your Majesty, what happened here?"

Rutela answered the blue beast.

"The dark ones... They raided this village and, as a message to my people, executed me before them."

The heroes tensed up at the shock at how merciless Zant could be. But Rutela wasn't done. Looking at each of the three beasts, she spoke again.

"Young woman. Young men. You who take forms of proud beasts. I have something to ask of you."

The trio paid very close attention.

"When the dark ones descended upon our village, I sent my young one, Ralis, to Hyrule Castle to inform Princess Zelda of our fate."

It was then her face changed to worry.

"But…I fear danger followed him from this doomed place. I feel it. His presence grows fainter to me over time. But my time in this world has passed, and though I would give it gladly, I no longer have a life to risk in his rescue. Please…Would you save my dearest Prince Ralis?"

Rutela's words echoed in Shadow's mind, painfully reminding him of the one person who gave up her own life to save his. Rutela continued.

"If you do this thing, I will bestow upon you the protection of water. This power will grant you the ability to swim and respire in very deep water, as if you were a Zora. But alas, I can only grant it to two of you."

"We understand." Sonic spoke.

Rutela smiled kindly at him before her face became sadly serious again.

"Please…save my son…"

Before any of them could respond, Rutela vanished, leaving the group behind.

Sonic clenched his fist as he went over what he and the others had learned from the deceased ruler.

"Zant."

Link silently agreed as she realized that the Zora boy that Ilia and that woman were taking care of at the bar was none other than Ralis. She was sure that he was unaware what had happened to this place and especially his mother.

Shadow growled in anger and sadness, realizing what the poor boy was going to go through once he realized he was alone now. Something that Shadow had great experience of.

The black and red Were-Hog turned around, looking to the exit.

"Come on. Let's get to the light spirit and find Prince Ralis."

As they turned, Link could have sworn that Shadow was crying, tears flowing from his blood-red eyes.

* * *

_There. Done. Like I said, Listen to Rutela's theme for the full effect._

_Please Review and don't flame me._


	10. A Kiss and Saving the Zora Prince

**Chapter 10**

**A Kiss and Saving the Zora Prince**

* * *

The ride back down to Lake Hylia was rough. Since Sonic refused to jump off the waterfall, the three heroes took the unfrozen path through some caverns to get to the lower level of Zora's Domain. Then, once they've reached the level, they found that it was overflowed. But before they could figure out what to do next, Shadow dragged Sonic to a nearby fallen tree, tossed him on, and with one strong push, sent the tree down the Zora River.

Needless to say, Sonic was pissed as he roared down the river.

The black Were-hog and the wolf both swam down the river, with Midna riding Link's back. With the river rushing from the overflow, it took the coterie back to Lake Hylia in less than ten minutes, which was fifty minutes less than what it took them to get up the river. And sure enough, the waterway's exit sent the party to the entrance of Lanayru's spring.

The wolf and the black Were-hog swam up to the temple-like entrance to the spring, were Sonic was, panting with relief. He then gave a death-glare to Shadow while Link walked ahead of them a few paces before she shook off the excess water.

"What the hell was that for?" Sonic bellowed at his dark counterpart.

Shadow scoffed as he gave his answer.

"We have no time for you to be standing around, sniveling like a cowardly idiot, all because you can't swim."

Ignoring the fight between the two males, Link, with Midna on her back, walked into the structure. The glowing light inside, whom Link figured was Lanayru, gave the wolf another Vessel of Light, once again asking the wolf and the her two companions to find his light. But when Link took a look at the map that she took from Shadow earlier, she was stunned to find that the light wasn't just in Lake Hylia, but all over the Lanayru Provence.

As Link left the spirit's spring, she found Sonic and Shadow, who had ceased their fighting, watching her coming out.

"Light collecting again?" Sonic asked.

Link nodded and unrolled the map, allowing the Were-hogs to see the location of the light. Link had formed a plan while she was walking out, and with her paw, pointed to a specific Were-hog and a location on the map. Shadow had figured out what she was trying to say.

"So Sonic will find the insects up above and around the Castle Town area. I will go back to Zora's Domain and take care of the insects there. And you are going to stay here at the lake and hunt the insects here?"

Link nodded at Shadow's accusation.

All three beasts agreed to the plan.

Shadow returned to Zora's Domain by calling the giant Kagarok again and he even found some insects along the canyon that connected Zora's Domain and Lake Hylia. Sonic used his stretchable arms to easily climb up the lake's walls and began his search, while Link remained and sniffed out the dark bugs.

Hours passed and both Were-hogs had found the insect they had been searching for. With each insect squashed, the light flew to Lake Hylia where Link and the Vessel of Light were, which gave them less to worry about. But as the vessel was close to full, Link caught a glimmer of something underneath the water's surface.

"_**What's that?"**_ She thought.

Midna nodded as Link gave her an inquisitive look, letting the wolf know that they should check it out. So, Link jumped into the water and swam out to the middle of the lake, where there were some large floating planks that allowed her to stand. But as she stood on the plank in the middle, she immediately felt that something was wrong.

And she couldn't be more right.

As she gazed into the water, she saw the shimmering light again, but this time bubbles were coming from the depths. It was then a static charge shot up from the water, but there was nothing there. With all that has happened, Link knew immediately to switch she sight to wolf mode, which held surprising results.

Where the static charge was, there was a giant insect about the size of a cow. With its giant abdomen, this was no doubt the queen of the Twilit Insects. The queen flew back a ways and charged toward the wolf. Seeing this, Link dodged to one of the other planks as the queen missed her target, forcing her to hover above the wooden rafts.

Seeing the charge having died down from the monstrous beetle, Link took the chance to leap onto the beetle and with one bite, decapitated the queen. With the queen bug dead, the last of the light entered the small container, filling it up. Once it was full, a familiar light surrounded Link and her far-off companions and within a matter of seconds, all three heroes were back at Lanayru's spring. As the last remnants of the twilight cleared when the Vessel of Light was delivered, Midna appeared from Link's shadow once again.

"Make sure to get that last Fused Shadow, now. Eee, hee! See you later!"

Once Midna was gone, a splash in the water caught the attention of the three warriors. They backed away as the water inside the spring began to glow while the light spirit's sphere rose. Then, from the spring sprung a giant white snake, clamping its maw on the sphere before diving back into the water. The trio watched as the snake swam in the water before rising before the three heroes as he spoke.

"My name is Lanayru. Your efforts have at last restored each of us light spirits in Hyrule. O heroes chosen by the gods…The dark power that you seek…It waits in a temple set in the bed of Lake Hylia."

_"Oh, great! Not only am I surrounded by water, but the Fused Shadow is __**underwater!**__ This is surly my lucky day!"_ Sonic thought both bitterly and sarcastically.

But Lanayru wasn't done.

"But before seeking it, you must now bear witness to something…and never forget it. You must know that it was the will of the goddesses that we lock away the forbidden power."

As quick as light, the visions of the three heroes faded into one unified by the light spirit. Link was back in her farm cloths while Sonic was in the outfit Link had given him on the first day he was a human, while Shadow was in nothing but his pants and boots, revealing his muscular chest.

The three heroes found themselves in a void, their bodies visible to each other. But that changed when three comets: one blue, one green, and one red, soared around them as Lanayru spoke.

"When all was chaos, the goddesses descended and gave order and life to the world."

The three lights then crossed an area, causing a hill of green land to appear.

"They granted power equally to all who dwelt in the light, and then returned to the heavens. The lands where the goddesses descended came to be known as the Sacred Realm."

The trio of heroes looked at each other before looking at the hill, where the three comets came together to form three golden triangles that formed one.

"For ages, the people lived at ease, content in mind and body."

All a sudden, Sonic's eyes became white, possessing him to attempt to stab an equally possessed Shadow, who also held a knife that somehow manifested into their hands.

"But soon, word of the Sacred Realm spread through Hyrule, and a great battled ensued."

Before Sonic and Shadow could wield the knives, a sword caused the blades to toss back as a now controlled Link began to run toward the triangles. But before she could get to them, three silhouettes appeared, all resembling Link. Completely black with red glowing eyes.

"Among those living in the light, interlopers who excelled at magic appeared."

Lanayru continued as a silhouette of Midna's helmet appeared, covering the triangles.

"Wielding powerful sorcery, they tried to establish dominion over the Sacred Realm."

The three fake Links then raised their hands and caused Link to disappear into sand, while the three shadows took the forms of Sonic, Link, and Shadow. The three influenced heroes began to fear as the orbs of the light spirits appeared.

"It was then that the goddesses ordered us three light spirits to intervene. We sealed away the great magic those individuals had mastered."

At that moment, the helmet collapsed as the three screamed in fear.

"You three know this magic. It is the dark power you seek…the Fused Shadow. O heroes chosen by the goddesses…Beware. Those who do not know the danger of wielding power will, before long, be ruled by it. Never forget that."

In an instant, the three were back in the real world, in full control of their own bodies. The endeavor had weakened them, causing them to collapse on their knees. "The dark power that you seek is within the sleeping Lakebed Temple in Lake Hylia."

* * *

Link and the boys made their way back to the upper part of Lake Hylia but sat down on some boulders to recover on what had just happened with Lanayru. Link looked back at the lake.

"Do we really need the Fused Shadow? What if collecting those causes more trouble?"

"Midna said we need to match our power with Zant's, even if it means dark power." Shadow explained.

"But we don't know how to use it or how dangerous they really are. I mean, are they really worth it?"

Shadow looked at Link with a serious look on his face.

"We have no choice. It's either risk being controlled by the Fused Shadow, or a life time of nightmares when the twilight returns, with every day more frightening than the last. People will be spirits for the rest of their lives; deformed creatures will roam the land. And we'll be nothing but beasts for the rest of our miserable lives. The way I see it, we have no choice."

Sonic glared at Shadow as he approached Link.

"That's enough, Shadow!"

Shadow scoffed as he walked down the trail that headed toward Castle Town. As soon as he was farther out of sight, Sonic sat down next to Link, placing a hand on the green-clad woman's shoulder.

"Even though he is right, that still didn't mean he should act like that. Especially since out of all of us, you work the hardest."

"I know." Link spoke. "I'm just so tired and…and afraid."

Link was doing her best to keep her tears at bay while Sonic pulled her in closer to him.

"I know. I know."

As he held her, he smelt the forest on her. Even with all of that water, she still smelt like the Faron and Ordonian forests. It was intoxicating, as if her scent was telling him that she was meant for him.

Link, with her head on his chest, could also smell Sonic's scent. It wasn't the first time she had smelt the wind-caressed fields on his person. From the moment she first woke up in the castle's cell, she had the aroma engraved in her mind. It was comforting, calming, and it eased her worries.

Sonic was a bit startled when she gently nuzzled his chest, rubbing his scent on her. Yet, somehow, it was soothing. He then bent his head down toward her head, but caught a set of lips as Link had raised her head. The contact startled them but neither hero moved. It was as if time froze.

_"What are you doing? You're kissing her! Take advantage of this!" _

_"__Oh my goddesses! I'm kissing him! What am I going to do?" _

Neither teen knew what do to at that point. Whether to back away or indulge. But just as they were on the verge of indulging, they had to break as they remembered that now wasn't a good time.

"Uh~ we need to get going."

"Yeah. We should."

The pair remained silent as they made their way to Castle Town, secretly cursing the time and blushing and smiling at the kiss.

* * *

When they got back into town, they were greeted at the gate by Shadow. He said nothing as they headed to the bar where they knew where Ilia was. But when they got in, they saw a short old man with large glasses yell at the woman who Link identify as Telma.

"That is a Zora child! This is beyond my expertise! Hmmmph!"

The trio stood aside as the man stormed out of the bar. They then saw that Ilia ran toward the door, trying to stop the man.

"Doctor, wait! If something isn't done, this child will…"

But it was to no avail as Ilia began to return to the Zora boy. She took a look at Link, but she didn't react as the three would've thought.

_"Something's wrong."_ The three silently agreed.

"Well, this isn't good. A human doctor won't do, huh?" Telma replied.

Sonic and Link saddened as Ilia placed her head into her hands as she cried in despair, while Shadow kept an eye on the young boy, seeing him in this terrible condition.

It was then that Telma remembered something that interested the trio.

"That old coot reminded me, though. I've heard of a shaman in Kakariko Village, in the Eldin lands, who's tended Gorons and Zoras."

This brought Ilia's attention to full as she stood up to speak with the bartender.

"Is that true? Perhaps if we take him there…"

"Inadvisable! Too dangerous! But we can't turn a blind eye to a pretty girl in need, either. We'd better escort you! Am I right boys?"

The five soldiers, who were standing nearby, cheered at their captain's announcement.

Telma smiled as she spoke to Ilia again.

"Well, isn't that nice. To reach Kakariko, we've got to cross two plains that are each infested by dangerous beasts. But we'll be safe now."

The word 'dangerous beasts' caused the soldiers to slowly stop their cheering.

Sonic whispered to Shadow, "Five rupees on them chickening out and running away."

"No need for a bet. I completely agree." Shadow whispered.

Sure enough, the soldiers ran out in fear. Telma yelled at the door, where the soldiers ran out.

"Cowards! Don't EVER show your faces here again!"

It was then that the barwoman saw the three heroes, who were still standing in the bar.

"Oh my. Looks like we've got two young swordsmen and a swordswoman left."

Seeing the opportunity to help the boy, Shadow spoke.

"We have heard about this boy and would like to offer our services. We know of Renado, the shaman of Kakariko Village and we would like to escort you there. If that is alright." Sonic was confused greatly. Why was Shadow going out of his way to help the boy?

Telma smiled at Shadow's response.

"Well, we'll be glad to have you escort us."

She then looked toward Ilia.

"Get ready to go, honey. Pronto!"

Ilia nodded and began to pack what they would need for the journey.

Telma, seeing Link's reaction to the girl, approached her.

"You know that girl, don't you honey?"

Link nodded.

"Yes. We're childhood friends. But why doesn't she recognize me?"

Telma answer her.

"It's a real shame. She can't even remember her own name right now."

The two then looked at the child as Sonic and Shadow went to help Ilia.

"Bless her heart. She found this poor boy collapsed in the road, so she did all that she could to save him. More courage in that girl than in all the soldiers of Hyrule, for sure."

She then looked to Link.

"You and your handsome friends lend your strengths to her, you hear me?"

Link nodded. "We will."

* * *

An hour later, the heroes and the two women were at the viewing platform just outside of Castle Town. They were looking at the Great Bridge of Hylia, and the threat that was on it.

"So you say the bridge to the east has been destroyed, huh? Then our only option is to cross the bridge to the west." Telma spoke.

The trio frowned at the sight of the Bulblin King, who somehow survived the fall back in Eldin, riding his boar on the bridge, patrolling it. Telma, seeing the trio's reactions, spoke.

"You know what this means. You'll have to deal with that thing."

Sonic growled at the sight of the huge Bulblin. He still haven't forgiven that monster for everything that happened. From kidnapping Ilia and the kids, to hurting Link.

The group then headed to a caravan, where the boy was. Telma took the reins while Ilia got in the back to keep tabs on the boy.

Looking at Sonic and Shadow, she asked, "D-do you need any help?"

Sonic shook his head.

"No. We're ok. But thanks anyway."

Ilia then looked out of the caravan window to Link, who was on Epona.

"Th-thank you so much for this. Um…if you don't mind me asking, what's your name?"

It pained Link to see Ilia this way, but complied, hoping her name might trigger her memory.

"My name is Link. The blue-haired boy is Sonic and the dark-haired boy is Shadow."

For a moment, it looked like Ilia had remembered something, but that was until she spoke.

"Link…I will never in all of my life forget the two men and your kindness."

"Little lady, I think you'd best save your thanks until we're safe in Kakariko." Telma spoke.

She then looked at Link.

"This swordswoman of ours has great eyes, honey. They're proud and wild…like a feral beast."

She then looked at Sonic and Shadow, who were running ahead.

"And the two men she has with her are not only fast as the wind, but very handsome too. We need fast beasts right now, to keep the true ones at bay. If we make it to Kakariko safely, we'll just thank them then, ok?"

Telma then gave a friendly wink at Link as they caught up to the boys.

When they have reached the bridge, they saw that the Bulblin King had two shields on his arms. Shadow smirked.

"Looks like it's my turn to take him out."

He then walked over to Link.

"I need to borrow your horse."

Link raised an eyebrow, but nodded. Surprisingly, Shadow rode Epona just fine. They watched as Shadow had a duel that was similar to Link's, but instead of using his sword, used his bow and arrows to give him an opening. Once the boar was wobbly with its rider temporarily incapacitated, Shadow use this to his advantage as he got to the side and gave a swift, strong push with his leg that sent the creature flying.

The group met up with Shadow and he and Link switched. Once that was done, they headed to the gate that lead to the Faron Provence's part of Hyrule Field. Shadow unlocked the gate that was there with the key that he had won from the fight and pressed on. The trio guarded the caravan as it made its way toward Kakariko. Shadow took our the Kargaroks with his bow, Sonic took out the Bulblins that were riding their own boars, and Link used the Gale Boomerang whenever the caravan caught fire from the flaming arrows of the Bulblins. When they reached the gate, Shadow unlocked it quickly. Once done, they headed into the village quickly.

* * *

A couple hours later, Renado came out of the room at the inn and spoke to Link and Colin, who was with her. Sonic and Shadow were on the steps, listening in.

"He has passed through the worst of is. As long as he rests, he should recover in due time."

He then asked a relived Link a terrible question.

"Do you know the fate of his mother? Her welfare consumes him. He has been mumbling deliriously about her almost constantly."

It pained even Shadow as Link told Renado about what had happened in Zora's Domain and the death of Queen Rutela.

"I can see the knowledge grieves you. It must be an awful memory." The shaman spoke sadly.

After a moment of silence, Colin spoke to him.

"I'll stay with him until he's better. No matter how long it takes."

Renado smiled as he kneeled and placed his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Is that so? Thank you, Colin."

* * *

After that, Link, Colin, Sonic, and Shadow headed outside. Shadow leaned on the wall as Colin spoke to Link.

"Hey, Link, about Ilia… Is it true, what they said about her?"

Renado, who had just joined them, spoke.

"Yes, she has lost her memory, Colin, and regaining it will be no simple task. But it will be all right, child. If we just give her some time, I am certain that Ilia will find her heart again. So, Colin, I'd like to ask you to stay in this village until then. It is our turn to show courage that you have already displayed."

Colin smiled as Link ushered the boy to bed. As Renado walked away, Telma, who was standing nearby, spoke.

"Nice to see there's still hope here. And it's always good to see happy results repay your efforts."

She then asked something to the trio.

"Those skills of yours… Any chance any of you are of the mind to put them to use of Hyrule? What hope there is in our kingdom is frail and dying…but there's still a group trying to do what it can. And I am a member of that group."

She then held out her hand at the trio.

"Call me Telma."

Even though they already knew her name, they shook her hand in greeting. She then looked out into the village.

"I may just stay here a bit longer. I'm still worried about Ilia, and… Well, never mind about the rest."

Link and Sonic silently giggle as Telma set her sights toward the walking Renado.

Telma then walked over to the trio and placed her hands on her hips.

"Link, Sonic, Shadow. I want to see you three again at my bar, you hear me? The bar is actually a kind of a safe house for my friends. There's a passageway that leads to the castle from in there, as well. If you ever need anything, stop by. I'll be waiting for you three, honeys."

She then ran off to meet with Renado.

Sighing exhaustion at the day's events, three were ready to head inside until Shadow noticed a glow coming from behind them.

"Wait a minute, you two. We have someone who wishes to meet with us."

The pair turned around to find the apparition of Rutela behind them. With a grateful smile, she floated toward the graveyard, ushering the three to follow her.

The followed her to the back of the graveyard, where a large stone with the symbol of the Zoras was. They were a little surprised when the stone vanished, but ventured on through a small crawlspace that was originally hidden. Link was the first to exit, followed by Shadow, then Sonic.

The three found themselves at a small lake with a lone tombstone on the other side, were Rutela was. Since he still didn't like water, he stayed on the small section of land that connected to the graveyard, while Link and Shadow swam to the other side. Once they were on land, Rutela spoke.

"I am deeply grateful to you three for aiding my son in his time of need. You were right to bring him here. Kakariko Village is a sacred place for the Zora people. It is where we take our eternal rest. My husband in life, King Zora, also rests his spirit here. It is no coincidence my son found salvation in this place."

She then gestured to the grave.

"That which I promised you is within this grave. During his lifetime, my husband created two items specifically for two of the three chosen heroes. One is a garment that house the abilities of the Zora. The other gives the second hero the same abilities, but it is in the form of a choker, a pair of armbands, and a pair of leg bands."

The grave then moved, revealing the keys for the heroes to enter the Lakebed Temple. Since Link was quick, she took the armor while Shadow took the jewelry. The armor consisted of a blue tunic and hat similar to Link's but were blue and made with waterproof material. There was a smaller version of the Zora soldiers' helmets and blue flipper-boots.

The jewelry looked like they were made with waterproof silver and were designed in scales. The choker looked like a water dragon eating its tail and had a small pendent that had the triangles with a sapphire triangle in the center that Lanayru had showed them dangling from the choker. The armbands and leg bands resembled water dragons that look like they were wrapping themselves around his limbs.

With the items in the two heroes' possession, the late queen spoke.

"Now, at last, I can join my king in slumber. And yet… My son… He still knows nothing of my death. If any of you see him again, please pass on this message. Tell him he must not grieve his mother's passing. Tell him to be brave and live on as the king of our people. And… Tell him his mother…loves him without end. Tell him."

She then looked toward Sonic.

"Young man. I know that you fear water and thus, cannot join your companions in the temple. But I do have information to give you before I go. At the place where you saved the Goron leader, you will find a gem that does not belong to this world. There are seven in this world, all in places you will go or have been to. I wish all of you well."

The trio bowed in respect for the late queen as she vanished.

As Link began to change behind the giant tombstone, Shadow, who was placing the jewelry on his person, spoke to Sonic.

"Sonic. Take our bomb bags and trade the bombs in them with some water bombs in Barnes' shop. Take some rupees with you."

In a flash, Sonic traded the bombs and returned to the Zora's gravesite, where Link was fully clothed in the Zora armor and Shadow had the jewelry on. He tossed the bag to the jeweled man as he bid farewell.

"Be sure to take care of each other!"

And with that, Sonic left as Shadow threw a water bomb at a rock pile under the water. The explosion revealed a tunnel that lead to Lake Hylia.

Once there, Shadow's suspicions were correct. When they got to the entrance to the temple, they had to blow up another rock pile to gain access.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sonic was racing back into the depths of the mines where he and his friends defeated Fyrus.

"Ok. The queen said that there's a gem here. But where?"

Sonic walked into the center of the main chamber and looked around. It wasn't until he looked up that he saw something that shocked him.

Using the pillars to his advantage, Sonic jumped up to the top of the room, where a stone chandelier was. From the chandelier, he grabbed a large, red gem that was all too familiar to him.

"A Chaos Emerald!"

It was then that Sonic finally understood the job he was going to do while he waited for Shadow and Link from the depths of the temple. The seven Chaos Emeralds were here in this world, and if Zant got his hands on them, then all would be lost.

Without another moment to loose, Sonic raced out of the mines and headed to the forest.

* * *

_Sorry for the wait. Damn you, Writer's block! Why do you plague me so?_

_Please read and review. No flames, please._


	11. The Lakebed Temple

**Chapter 11**

**The Lakebed Temple**

_Whoot! Finally! A new chapter. I would've made the chapter sooneer, but someone flamed this fic and it made me mad for a while. You understand._

_There are some references from "Ocarina of Time" and "The Wind Waker", just to let you know._

_I do not own the Zelda series nor the Sonic the Hedgehog series. If I did, this would be either a video game or a movie. I own The Violin of Visions (woth the help of Kiyo Hosekowa) and the Sonata of Second Sight._

_Thank you Kiyo Hosekowa for helping me out of my writer's block._

* * *

As Sonic began his search for the remaining six Chaos Emeralds, Shadow and Link were in the entry tunnel in the Lakebed Temple. Thanks to the Zora Armor and the Zora Bands, the two heroes were able to swim with ease as they avoided the boulder-sized jellyfish as they reached the end of the tunnel into a large, waterless chamber. Looking at a set of stairs and a door at the other side of the room, Shadow spoke as Link removed the breathable mask from her mouth.

"That must be the entrance to the actual temple."

Link nodded as she and Shadow got out of the water and headed toward the door. But as they got close, Link looked out of the corner of her eye and drew her sword. Shadow turned just in time to see Link cut up a large, purple jelly-blob into multiple blobs until they were no longer sentient.

"What the hell was that?" He asked.

"Chu's. It's a type of monster that is both dangerous and useful."

She then cut up some Chu's that were read and, to Shadow's confusion and disgust, scooped the remains into an empty bottle.

"And why, pray tell, are you keeping their remains?"

Unfazed, Link answered as she corked the bottle.

"The remains of a Chu have various effects. Red heals wounds, yellow is a substitute for lantern oil, and I heard from Rusl that there is a rare kind of Chu that can heal better than red Chu's. But it's best to avoid the Purple Chu's. They can make you sick."

Shadow raised an eyebrow in interest at the girl's information. For a sheltered Rancher, she surely knew plenty of combat and survival facts. Though the fact that was recently told still disgusted him.

After Link, and eventually Shadow, bottled enough red Chu jelly, they returned their attention to the task at hand: finding the last Fused Shadow. With the jelly-like monsters gone from the chamber, the pair was free to enter the next room. But as they reached the door, they found that the door was sealed as they tried to open it.

"Locked? But I don't see a keyhole anywhere." Link muttered.

Shadow then stopped his attempts to open the door to find any way to unlock the closed opening. His search ended when he spotted what seemed to be a golden handle hanging from the ceiling. As he reached for the handle, he spoke to Link.

"Link, look at this."

Link stopped straining just in time as Shadow grasped the handle and pulled down on it. The action bore fruit as the two heroes heard a 'click' from the door. Letting go of the handle, Shadow turned to the door as Link managed to open it when she tested it.

"It seems that we need to keep an eye out for these switches. They might be essential in guiding us through the temple."

Link nodded in agreement as they entered the next chamber. This chamber was twice the size of the previous room, but the stone bridge that lead to the door had collapsed sometime in the past. And with the ledges on the other side too high for them to reach, even if the stood on each other's shoulders.

The two humans scanned the chamber to find anything that could aid them in crossing the room. Shadow noticed something and got out his bow and quiver of arrows.

"Link. Hand me a bomb, will you?"

Link raised her eyebrow, but yielded. Once Link handed him one, Shadow tied the bomb to an arrow and aimed it at a stalactite.

"Now light the bomb."

Link got out a flint and stone to light the fuse, but was still trying to figure out what the dark-haired man was up to. Her answer came as Shadow released the arrow and hit the stalactite, causing the stone to fall to the ground, giving them a way up to the next platform.

"Oh. I see." Link whispered as she got out more bombs, allowing Shadow to take down a couple of more stalactites.

Once the 'stone stairs' were set, Shadow placed his archery items back into his pouch and spoke bluntly.

"Come on. The Fused Shadow can't come to us."

Link growled in frustration at Shadow's behavior. What was his problem? Why was he such a bastard? These questions and more continued to plague Link as she and Shadow fought off small armored creatures that squealed like pigs.

Once the creatures were done for, the two heroes climbed the fallen stalactites to the door to the next chamber. There was nothing there to amaze the pair other than the rushing water that flowed beneath the bridge that lead to the center of the temple. As they crossed, Link decided to look over the edge of the bridge. She took in a deep breath as she repelled her vertigo.

"Come on, Hero. We haven't got all day." Shadow called back as he reached the door.

Link narrowed her eyes at him, but widened them as they enter the main chamber of the temple. The chamber seemed to be like a mile high with three layers. The lower layer had water, but up to the first rim of the second layer. The second layer and third layer were hallways that went to a variety of doors. In the middle of the chamber was a column that had a stairway that lead from the second layer to the third layer and beneath the stairs was a locked door. And glistening above the stair-column was a glass and crystal chandelier.

Both heroes were impressed by the chamber, but Shadow's awe halted when he looked at the door.

"I have a feeling that the Fused Shadow in behind that door. The problem is 'how do we get down there'?"

Wanting revenge for Shadow's behavior, Link looked around until she noticed that some of the stone tiles were deeper into the ground than the rest and were worn from water sometime in the past. She then looked up to the stairs and began to put the pieces together.

Shadow pulled out from his deep thoughts to find Link running up the stairway to the third level of the temple.

"Link? What the hell are you doing?"

The dark-haired man ran up the stairs after the woman only to stop as Link looked out to see the chamber again.

"Just as I thought."

"What?" Shadow growled.

Link ignored his growl and pointed to the stairs.

"If we are to get at that Fused Shadow, we'll need to raise the water level."

This confused the man.

"What?"

Link pointed to the tiles that lead to one of the doors on the third level.

"These tiles tell that people have been here before and the structure clearly states that the only way through that door is to release water from the third and second layers. The thing is, there are only two ways and…"

"And that means that the remainder of the temple is like a gigantic puzzle that we may have to move back and forth between floors to solve it." Shadow answered, impressed at Link's solution.

Link nodded. She looked at the door behind her and began to walk towards it, smirking with victory.

"Come on. We're wasting daylight."

Shadow crossed his arms as Link walk through the door, fascinated by the woman as he followed her into the next room.

"I wonder if there is more about her than what Sonic and I know."

* * *

**Meanwhile…**

As Link and Shadow continued their trek through the Lakebed Temple, Sonic was returning to the Faron Woods in his search for the Chaos Emeralds. Since Midna was with Link and Shadow, the blue-haired man was all alone as he returned to the Forest Temple.

Ever since finding the red emerald in the Goron Mines, Sonic found himself thinking about the situation more and more as he entered the Forest Temple. If the Chaos Emeralds were here, did that mean that they were they reason why he and Shadow had been sent to Hyrule? Could the powerful gems take the two back as well? But out of all the questions his mind went through, there were several that he did not want answered. Many involving Zant. Could the King of the Twilight Realm have the ability to sense the immense power of the jewels? If so, would he want them? And what would he do with them if he gathered them all?

After seeing Zant's power in the spreading of the twilight, Sonic did not want the madman to find them.

As he entered the chamber where he, Link, and Shadow fought Diababa, he began to scan the room, hoping that the Chaos Emerald had not fallen into the water. Sonic looked up to the ceiling to find only a large bar running across the room and a door on the other side of the water. He folded his arms and looked down in thought.

"Shoot! That might be where the emerald is, but I can't get across."

Sonic's mental muttering was answered when he heard something land in front of his feet. Looking up, he saw the female monkey that he and his friends had helped earlier. She was waving and chattering at the Blue Blur before she swung off. Sonic then looked down to his feet and saw that the monkey had found an old grappling hook with a long rope. Looking back to the bar, he put two and two together with a smirk.

"I get it now."

He picked up his new item and began swinging the grappling hook, aiming at the bar.

"Come on. Make this work." He prayed aloud.

When the grappling hook reached the right speed, Sonic released it towards the bar. He watched as the hook flew over the bar and wrapping itself on the bar, making it secure. Sonic grinned with delight.

"Alright! Now to get that Chaos Emerald."

After backing up, Sonic ran toward the water and lifted his legs, allowing himself to swing over to the other side, completely dry. With a tug, Sonic was able to retract the grappling hook. Looking at the item in his hands, he spoke.

"Defiantly keeping this."

He placed his arm through the loop of the grappling hook and allowed the item to rest on his shoulder while he entered the inner sanctum of the temple.

Once inside, Sonic marveled at the wondrous garden that was hidden in this ancient sanctuary. He could see flowers and ferns of every kind, familiar and unfamiliar, covering the corners of the hexagonal grounds, willow trees spaced about, and a shrine in the center of the garden. As Sonic approached the white shrine, he saw the familiar gleam of the green Chaos Emerald. It was lying on the ground, in front of a small, regal-looking chest sitting on a pedestal.

As Sonic picked up the emerald and put it in his pouch, curiosity quickly overpowered him as he approached the chest. Slowly, he opened the chest. Inside, setting on a cushion of red velvet, was a violet-blur sweet potato ocarina with a navy blue band around the labium with the Triforce he had seen in Lanayru's vision etched in gold.

As he picked up the ocarina, Sonic spotted a letter resting underneath the instrument. He opened the folded letter only to find it in Hylian. He snorted in annoyance.

"Oh great. Now I need to actually learn the actual language."

Pocketing the ocarina and the letter, Sonic sped out of the temple and returned to Castle Town.

Perhaps there was a library that could aid him.

* * *

**Back at the Lakebed Temple…**

Link and Shadow had entered another section of the temple after releasing the water from one of the areas in the eastern section, causing some giant gears had medium-sized gears hanging on them by chance to turn, aiding the water to the central part of the sanctuary. Shadow was following a map they had found earlier and lead the way, with a disgruntled Link following behind.

Ever since they entered the East Wing, Shadow had either been silent or negatively criticizing her on her abilities and ideas. And whenever she had a good idea that worked out, all he had been able to say was 'interesting.' He infuriated her to no limit and she was surprised that Sonic was able to put up with him for who-knows-how-long he knew him.

Every time he criticized her, she wanted to punch him in the face. It took even Midna, who was hiding in her shadow, to keep her from doing so.

"Get a hold of yourself. Remember. The Fused Shadow." She told her.

Link took in a silent deep breath as she pointed to a third door in a curved corridor. Since the second door was locked, Link immediately figured out where to go next. She stopped Shadow.

"Shadow, over here. This may be a way around."

Shadow turned and looked in the direction where Link was pointing to. With an unfazed look, Shadow headed to the door.

"Good eye, Link. Let's move on."

As Shadow went through the door, Link huffed.

She _really_ wanted to show Shadow up.

Just to show that she's not someone to just ignore when working alongside.

On the other side of the door, there was a small room with a pool of water just a few feet away from them. Neither one of them spoke as they dove into the water, proving their silent theories of a tunnel under the water. Since the jellyfish floated in one place, the only problem they had were the flesh-eating clams that attacked them. Thankfully, the two heroes still had their Iron Boots and their swords to take care of them.

The pair swam and walked for fifteen minutes until the tunnel lead upwards. Shadow pointed up, able to speak thanks to the Zora Choker.

"Up there."

Link nodded as she and Shadow swam up. Once they breached the surface, the two heroes climbed out of the pool, just in time to see the opening shut.

"That's _never_ a good sign." Link whispered.

As much as Shadow wanted to be sarcastic, he had to agree with Link. Closing doors like that was never a good sign. The pair looked around the chamber, water reaching up to their calves. They jumped when they heard the sound of splashing nearby. They turned to find tadpoles the size of watermelons swimming at them.

With swift movements, they defeated the tadpoles. But that did not ease their wariness.

"Just our luck. We have to fight tadpoles." Shadow muttered.

A low growl caused Link to look up and making her white. She tugged on Shadow's shoulder her way.

"Uh…Shadow. I think we have a challenge over our heads."

Shadow looked up and realized what she was talking about.

Hanging on a stalactite the biggest toad both of them had ever seen. It was the size of three elephants, almost doubling in size as it dropped down from the ceiling in front of them. Now in the light of the light-giving stones that hung on the walls, the pair could see that aside from green, the toad had what seen had feelers and huge lips. On the toad's back were dozens upon dozens of eggs, ready to hatch.

The toad gave a thunderous croak, the toad shook off some of the eggs before waddling off to the side. The eggs hatched and the newly born tadpoles charged at the duo. Drawing their swords, Shadow muttered to Link.

"I am beginning to really hate this place."

"Now's not the time! Here they come!"

The two each took out a half of the spawn before they were completely slain. But as they turned their attention to the toad, they found that it had vanished. Link ran forward a few paces before stopping in the center of the room.

"What? Where did it go?"

As Link looked to find if it was crawling on the walls, Shadow saw a toad-shaped shadow becoming larger on top of Link. Seeing this, Shadow's eyes widened as he ran toward Link.

"Link!"

But before Link could respond, Shadow leapt at her and they both rolled over to the other side of the room just in time as the toad landed where Link originally was.

As Shadow looked back to the toad, he was unaware that Link was blushing underneath him. Even though they had to be focused on the battle, she couldn't help but blush at both how close they were and how well-toned Shadow was. But her astounded look faded as Shadow helped her up.

"You owe me one." He huffed.

Once Link was standing, Shadow saw that the tongue seemed to have weak skin. Hastily re-drawing his sword, Shadow swung at the tongue, confirming his suspicions that the mouth, specifically the tongue, was the toad's weak spot.

The toad retaliated by shaking off more eggs and moving back again. Link was watching this and realized something.

"It won't attack if its babies are out. When they're gone, it strikes. That's when…"

She stopped talking when she discovered that she and Shadow had slain the last of the tadpoles and the mother toad had vanished again.

Link watched the floor until she saw the shadow of the toad over Shadow.

"Shadow! Look out!"

Shadow was about to react to the toad dropping on him when Link leapt at him and moved him out of the way just as he did before.

As the toad landed, Link told him, "Now we're even."

Unbeknownst to Link, Shadow was caught by surprise at how fast Link was able to react to the toad that time and how strong she was. His feet were planted firming on the ground when she slammed him away and the remark she gave him when she helped him up afterward. And her scent. So tempting, so tantalizing.

Shaking out his surprise, Shadow grabbed his bow and aimed a bomb-arrow at the mouth as Link used her sword to pin the tongue onto the ground, leaving the mouth open for Shadow to fire an arrow into the monster's gullet. The action caused the toad to explode into tiny pieces, leaving behind two chests.

Link and Shadow stood still, breathing heavily from exhaustion. With Sonic missing from their group, it was a tougher fight than what they were used to. Although, Shadow found himself not complaining. Link was the first to approach one of the chests, with Shadow taking the other one. With a nod to the other, the two heroes opened the chest and found two items.

Shadow's item was a Hookshot of silver and red, its chain all coiled up in the device, ready to aid its new owner in the future. Link's new item was similar to the Hookshot, but it was gold and was called a Clawshot, due to the 'claw' at the point. Shadow examined his Hookshot with curiosity.

"What do you suppose we do with these?"

Link looked around until she spotted the door leading out, barred by a coral door. But as she looked up, Link spotted a gold and red target in front of the door's extended ceiling. With her new Clawshot, Link aimed at the target and pulled the trigger. The spring in the item sent the claw flying until it grasped the target. The strength of the Clawshot pulled Link to where it was. And with her weight on the Clawshot, the target revealing to be a switch, sliding down until it stopped. The two heroes watched in amazement as the doors opened before them.

"I guess that's how we can get that Fused Shadow, now."

Shadow nodded as he used his Hookshot to hook onto the same target after Link unhooked herself.

As they continued on, Shadow was taking notice of the strange feelings he was having toward Link. The same ones that Sonic was having toward her.

Speaking of which…

* * *

**With Sonic…**

It took Sonic a couple of hours, but he managed to secretly make a language cheat sheet at the Castle Town library. (_A/N_: _You'd never thought he'd actually go to one too._ lol) With the cheat sheet in his hand (and no other Chaos Emeralds to be found yet), Sonic returned to Lake Hylia and used a Cuckoo to make his way down to Lanayru's Spring. Once there, he sat on the ground and began to translate the letter he had found with the mysterious ocarina.

With a spare paper as well as a quill and ink he bought back in Castle Town, Sonic managed to translate the letter on the second piece of paper. When he was done, he blew on the ink, drying it, and read the contents.

_If you are reading this letter, then you have been able to open the chest containing this valuable royal treasure. For centuries, the Royal Family of Hyrule kept special treasures that held great power. This ocarina is one of them. With this, the **Ocarina of Time**, many magical songs will aid you in your quest, noble hero. Take great care of the Ocarina of Time. In this letter are two songs. One is a song that can aid you in communicating with those you need to speak with but are too far away. This is Saria's Song._

Sonic then read the notes below the original letter and played them on the Ocarina of Time. As he did, he could hear Link and Shadow speaking to one another in the Lakebed Temple.

"_Alright, we've got the key. Now all that's left is that chamber underneath the stairs."_ He heard Link speak.

_**"Good. Now let's get going. I've should've stayed on dry land with Sonic."**_ He heard Shadow.

"Whoa." Sonic spoke, double surprised when Shadow and Link heard.

_**"Who's there!"**_

"Shadow! Link! It's me! Sonic."

_"Sonic? But how?"_ Link asked.

Sonic explained to the pair of the ocarina he had found and what song he played to contact them. Shadow then spoke.

_**"Better keep that ocarina. Who knows when we'll need it." **_

"I agree."

_"But there better be boundaries."_ Link told him.

Sonic kept himself from pouting, but obeyed the woman's privacy.

"Alright. I better let you guys go. You got a Fused Shadow to find and I got another song to learn. Also. Shadow, the Chaos Emeralds are here in Hyrule and one might be where the Fused Shadow is."

Shadow muttered in agreement, both heroes making sure that Link didn't hear a thing about the Chaos Emeralds.

Once Sonic could no longer hear Link and Shadow, he began working on the second song.

* * *

**Back at the Lakebed Temple…**

Link and Shadow were about to enter the final chamber when Sonic spoke to them with Saria's Song and the after affect still creeped them out.

"Thankfully, we can sense if Sonic is watching us with that song." Shadow spoke.

Link nodded in agreement as she opened the door. Once inside the small room, their eyes caught sight of a dark pool of water. Obviously very deep.

Nodding at each other, Link pulled her armor's mask over her mouth as Shadow placed his Iron Boots on his feet. As Link put her boots on, the two heroes were readying themselves for an underwater fight by placing their feet in the water.

"Ready?" Shadow asked.

"Yes." Link spoke.

With that said, the two slid into the water and began to sink to the bottom.

The two sank for what seemed to be like a mile before they hit bottom. As they sank, they gazed upon what seemed to be the biggest chamber they have ever seen. Even the chamber where the Eclipse Cannon was wasn't this big. The only edifices in the chamber were several stone columns that formed a circle.

When they reached the bottom, the two heroes came across a gelatinous tentacle. It seemed inanimate at first, until a single eyeball slide inside it, looking at them and grossing the two out. Quickly, the eye slide back into the ground and several more tentacles appeared, followed by what seemed to be a mound, until it opened a set of twin mouths.

At the appearance of the mouths, the two heroes heard the familiar voice again.

**Twilit Aquatic: Morpheel**

Immediately freaked out by the mouth and tentacles, Link fired her Clawshot at it, catching and dragging out the eye that looked at them earlier. Shadow, seeing this, figure out something out as he slashed at the eye with his sword.

"Its eye is its weak point! Aim for the eye!"

Link nodded and used the Clawshot twice more while Shadow slashed at the eye. It was difficult for two reasons. The first, they were underwater, so their sword styles were slow and barely effective. Second, the eye had some sort of a thick protective coating on it.

But just when they thought it was going to be easy, the mouth retracted into the ground. Once it was no longer in sight, the ground began to shake. Not liking this one bit, Shadow and Link quickly removed their Iron Boots and floated in mid-water as the source of the mouth and eye surfaced from the sand, revealing its full body.

It was the biggest creature they have ever seen. Its size could no doubt rival that of a Blue Whale. Morpheel was serpentine with armored plating that was at least four feet thick with red markings on it. Is eye was placed back in the socket on the back of the monsters head where it belonged.

"Damn! Link! We've got to get to that eye!" Shadow declared as he and Link swam toward the swimming monster.

"I'm trying! That thing's fast!" Link voiced back, swimming as fast as she could to get to the monsters eye without getting into its mouth.

Shadow had to agree with her on that one. Morpheel's body was built for the water, armor and all. The only chance he and Link had in beating it is to swim like they've never swam before. This was proven a couple of times when Morpheel managed to 'face' the pair and tried to inhale them into his jaws. Link and Shadow had to cling on to the giant eel's armor in order take a breather.

Upon seeing the eye only several feet away from them, Shadow and Link pressed on, keeping a firm grip on the armor. Morpheel saw this and swam left and right and did barrel rolls to try and shake the two off. But they kept their grip. Barely.

Seeing that there was no other option, Link grabbed Shadow's free hand and used her Clawshot on the eye again. This time, bringing them over to where the eye was. The duo straddled around Morpheel's eye socket, using their legs to hold on tight. After taking out their swords, Link and Shadow grasped both swords and used all of their arm strength to plunge the swords into the eye, blinding Morpheel. The sudden blindness and pain made Morpheel swim wildly until Link and Shadow let go, just in time for the monster to smash his skull into the wall, killing it instantly.

The hole in the chamber began to drain the chamber of all its liquids, doubling the chance of the creature's death through suffocation. Once the water was mostly drained, Morpheel's body shattered, forming into the last Fused Shadow.

Upon the emergence of the Fused Shadow, Midna appeared from Link's shadow.

"So, here it is. The last Fused Shadow." She then used her hair to take the last Fused Shadow. "I'll just take that, thanks."

Shadow gave a glare at Midna while Link looked at her in disbelief.

"Now, don't resent me for all I've put all three of you through. I NEED this thing."

_"She's hiding something. But what?"_ Shadow thought as Midna continued.

"Besides, we have to do something about Zant, the one who thinks he's the king of shadows."

This caused the two to raise their eyebrows.

"Thinks he's king?" Link asked.

Midna answered. "His power is a false one. I'll prove it using these."

Once she placed the dark power into her inventory, the imp spoke once more.

"So. I've done everything I needed to do. I'm sorry for dragging you two and Sonic all over the place with me."

She then created another twilight portal.

"So, shall we go?" She asked.

"Just a minute." Shadow spoke, surprising the girls

"What is it, Shadow?" Link asked.

Shadow walked to the center of the chamber and pointed to a once heavily barred door that had become unbarred.

"I need to check this out."

He then walked into the direction of the door. Link raised her eyebrow and turned to Midna.

"Would you mind giving us a few minutes, Midna. I promise will be quick about it."

As Link ran off, Midna said something uncharacteristic.

"Take your time."

Concerned for Midna's unusual behavior, Link ran on to find Shadow entering the giant doors.

"Shadow! What are you…?"

But her words were cut off when the two of them found that behind the doors was an aquatic garden. Various ponds, pathways, water fountains, and seating ledges were completely made of coral of pink, blue, and green. The water in the ponds was clear and water lilies of every color and size were sitting daintily on the water's surface. The lighting stones emitted a bluish glow, giving the room light. And in the center of the room was a coral-made gazebo with a pond in the center. In the middle of the pond were a pedestal and an item.

As they approached the gazebo, Shadow saw something shine in the water and ran toward it with Link following behind him. Shadow walked on the stepping stones of the pond until he was over the shining object. Bending down, Shadow reached into the water and pulled it out, revealing to be a dark blue gem. Seeing this, Link marveled at the beautiful stone.

"It's lovely."

Unable to catch himself, Shadow spoke.

"It is a Chaos Emerald."

"Chaos Emerald?"

Realizing what he had said, Shadow placed the blue emerald into his pouch before standing up again.

"I'll tell you later."

But before Link could ask, Shadow turned to the item on the pedestal. It was a sea-blue violin with a crescent moon-shaped scroll at the end of the neck. The moonlight that radiated from the opening above made the instrument glisten like the ocean water. The violin was on a stand on top of its dark blue case and coral-made bow on the side.

The violin was beautiful, but to Shadow, it seemed to be calling him. Too weary from the battle before to be cautious, Shadow picked up the violin and examined it. He then picked up the bow as Link looked inside the case and found a note.

"Shadow, look at this."

Shadow looked at the note before gazing at the instrument again.

"What does it say?"

Link read the letter aloud.

_"If this letter finds you, then you, or someone in your company, had been chosen by the instrument that is known as the '**Violin of Visions**.' This sacred treasure of the Royal Family of Hyrule has many magical properties, but its main ability is to provide its chosen owner with visions while he plays a certain song. Such songs are hidden throughout the land, only to be obtained by completing certain challenges to prove the owner's worth. Take great care, for though the Violin of Visions can show part of it, the future is a great mystery and must not be misinterpreted, lest war shall fall upon these lands again."_

Link then pulled out another note that was in the case.

"Here's a song called 'Sonata of Second Sight.'"

After receiving the notes, Shadow placed the Violin of Visions into its case and placed the item in his pouch.

"I think that the violin was calling you because it's yours, Shadow."

Shadow remained silent as they left the garden. As they were halfway back to Midna, Link turned to Shadow with a serious look on her face.

"I'm not stupid, you know. I know you and Sonic are from someplace far, but that gem was completely otherworldly."

"What are you talking about?" Shadow asked, warily.

"When we meet up with Sonic, I want the whole truth. Where are you really from? And I expect the answer when we get back."

With that, Link ran ahead to meet with Midna and telling her about the Violin of Visions.

Shadow was taken aback by Link's assertiveness. How long did she know? This sudden surprise in her hidden intellect finally sent Shadow over the edge.

He had also fallen in love with Link.

* * *

_Please review and ABSOLUTLY **NO** FLAMING PLEASE!_


	12. Midna's Desperate Hour

**Chapter 12**

**Midna's Desperate Hour**

_Hi! Sorry for the long wait. But here's chapter 12!_

_Also, one of my reviewers, Kiyo Hosokowa, has informed me that three of my fics: "**The Legend of Sonic: Twilight Princess**", "**The Weapon Hostess**", and "**Fullmetal Pirate**" have been nominate for awards at the European forum site 'Sunset Park'. _

_"The Legend of Sonic" has been nominated for **Best New Fiction**, **Best Adventure**, **Best Crossover**, and **Best Romance**. _

_Wish me luck!. :D_

_I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog or The Legend of Zelda._

_Also, I recommend playing "Midna's Desperate Hour' and 'Zelda's Lullaby' for a really moving chapter. ;)_

* * *

**Lanayru's Spring...**

With the last Fused Shadow in their possession, Shadow and Link were brought back to Lanayru's spring where Sonic was waiting.

"There you are. What happened?"

Shadow answered him.

"We had the unfortunate opportunity to tangle with a monstrous eel named Morpheel. Aside from the Fused Shadow, I've received an instrument known as the Violin of Visions."

Sonic held back his laughter.

He _never _pictured Shadow with a violin.

However, before Sonic could berate Shadow, the two of them and Link, who had heard something from behind her, turn to find a solitary figure standing in front of them. It wore clothing of black and red with neon green markings. Plating on the shoulders and chest, and a fish-like helmet on its head.

The trio drew their swords just in time as Lanayru shot from the water and hissed fiercely at the figure, indicating this being was a foe. But the figure remained calm as a massive force of energy caused the three heroes to fall backwards and the light spirit to crash into the other side of the spring, knocking it out as twilight fell on the area once more.

The figure watched as the three disabled heroes shifted from human to Twilight Form once again, as well as exposing the formerly invisible Midna. The imp recognized the figure immediately, even with the helmet masking its face.

"Zant!"

The figure, the notorious King of Twilight, Zant, used his power to hold Midna still using some sort of telekinesis. Midna's anger became shock as Zant used his power again to take the three Fused Shadows the heroes had collected. As Midna struggled, Zant spoke.

"Did you honestly mean to take an ancient and withered power like this and turn it against me? You are a foolish traitor, Midna. Why do you defy your king?"

Midna struggled fiercely as she bellowed her answer.

"My KING? You, who do nothing but abuse the magic of your tribe? You must be joking!"

Zant spoke, a hint of anger in his tone.

"How dare you? Are you implying that my power is…our old magic? Now THAT is a joke."

To show his anger, Zant used his power to move Midna to the sandy earth and slammed her into the ground. He turned to face her as a glowing red orb appeared.

"This power is granted by my god! It is the magic of the King of Twilight, and you WILL respect it!"

Link, Sonic, and Shadow's consciousness returned to witness the figure about to strike at Midna. In retaliation, Link leapt first, but Zant was quick, sending her flying into the wall with another blast. Seeing Link's comatose form, the two Werehogs retaliated. Sonic was the first to attempt to send a fist into the figure's helmet, but Zant shielded himself with the orb once again, forcing Sonic to join Link.

After seeing this, Shadow growled at the figure.

"Who the hell are you?"

Zant then used his power once again to prevent the black and red Werehog from landing a fist in his direction by using it to grip the latter's throat.

"I am known as Zant. I am the ruler of the Twilight. You and your companions have meddled far enough."

He then sent Shadow to the stone, but not before seeing the three Chaos Emeralds land on the ground.

With Shadow incapacitated as well, Zant was free to take the emeralds just as he did with the Fused Shadows. He gazed at the them for a moment.

"My god was right. I can sense great power in these gemstones. They will certainly come of use."

With Zant distracted, Midna was able to make her way over to the fallen wolf and Werehogs. As she tried to wake them, Midna saw strange black and orange shards implanting themselves into the trio's heads. But before she could grab them, the shards vanished completely into the bodies. Zant's telekinesis grabbed Midna and brought her to Zant, still facing the three fallen heroes as Zant spoke in her ear.

"My Midna…Did you forget? Those beasts are three of the light dwellers who oppressed our people. No matter how much you may desire otherwise, you will never be more than a shadow in their world. You cannot consort with their kind! But if we can make their world ours, Midna…light and darkness will meet at last. Our tribe will take back their realm…and sweet darkness will blot out this harsh light! And that, Midna, is why…"

The 'tongue' of the helmet retracted to reveal a mouth with sharp teeth, surrounded by pale skin, speaking to the imp.

"…I need you. Not just for me, but for all of our people… Lend me your power."

Clearly refusing, Midna managed to struggle out of Zant's grasp and stood in front of the three beasts, glaring at the King of Twilight. Zant, however, did not take this lightly.

"So be it… I will return you to the light world you covet!"

Immediately, Midna found herself in Zant's mental grasp again and was carried over the spring. Zant then lowered the veil of twilight, keeping his grip on Midna. The light returned and Lanayru, now conscious, emerged by the forces of Zant, and shined its light at Midna, who screamed in agony. Light surrounded the imp and both her and the light spirit vanished.

Thinking that the imp was done with, Zant turned to deal with the three beasts, only to find them gone.

* * *

**Meanwhile…**

Outside the gate of a night-covered Castle Town, three orbs of light landed gently on the earth below. As they were reaching the ground, the orbs faded to reveal Sonic, Link, and Shadow, still in their Twilight Forms. As soon as they felt the ground beneath them, the trio of beasts slowly opened their eyes.

"Ugh…What happened? I feel like I got hit by a truck." Sonic muttered.

Shadow groaned as he rubbed his head, suppressing a migraine.

"Zant. It was Zant that did this to us."

He then felt for the emerald in his pouch, but couldn't find it. Eyes widening with fear, Shadow turned to Sonic.

"Sonic! Do you still have the Chaos Emeralds you've found?"

Hearing this, Sonic looked in his pouch and, like with Shadow, found no trace of the two powerful gems.

"They're gone!"

Shadow growled deeper as he heard this.

"Damn! It's just like I feared. Zant took them."

"But what was Zant doing at the spring? I thought he couldn't come outside the Twilight." Sonic asked.

"I'm not sure, but I thought I heard him say something about a new power."

But as Sonic was about to ask, he saw Link opening her eyes, startled to find that she and her friends have not changed back into their human forms. It was then that the two Werehogs notice something on the wolf's back.

"Midna?" Shadow asked.

Link turned her head and found Midna on her back where she usually was. But something was wrong.

The imp's color tone switched, making her more pale than usual, her face black as soot. Her hair, once a fiery orangish red, now white as snow. She was panting heavily, struggling to stay awake. She didn't even have the strength to sit up, lying on her stomach on the back of the female hero.

"Midna…" Sonic whispered as he helped the imp off Link's back.

It was then that they heard Lanayru's voice once more.

"Link, Sonic, and Shadow. Heroes chosen by the goddesses… Go to the princess locked away in the castle. That princess holds the key that can unlock you from your shadow forms…"

"The princess…?" Sonic whispered.

Shadow answered him.

"I think he was talking about Princess Zelda."

"Do you think she can help?" The blue Werehog asked, asking the same question that Link was thinking of.

"I don't know. But right now, she is our only option of returning to our other forms." Shadow answered as he walked ahead to the gates.

Link followed with Sonic behind her, cradling the ailing Midna in one of his arms.

* * *

As Shadow manned that gate, the three took notice of the sleeping town as it started to rain.

"Perfect." Shadow muttered at the rain.

Link, concerned about Midna, walked over to a nearby stall and grabbed a piece of tarp with her teeth. She then walked over and set the cloth in front of Sonic. Seeing this, Sonic used his free hand to cover himself and Midna in hopes of keeping her warm in the cold, rainy night.

Looking up at his companions, Sonic spoke.

"So. How do we get to the castle? Not like the guards could let us in."

Shadow shook his head as he remembered what he had learned in Kakariko.

"No, but remember what Telma said? That there is a secret tunnel leading to the interior of the castle at her bar? I have a feeling that the tunnel is our best bet."

Not wanting to argue, Sonic followed Shadow as Link led them to the bar once again. But as they found themselves at the entrance of the bar, an unfamiliar voice spoke.

_**"You there!"**_

Link halted and looked to the sound of the voice, finding Telma's white cat coming out of an open window. Since Link was the only one able to communicate with the cat, the Werehogs could only watch as Link 'talked' to the cat.

"_**You're Link, correct?" **_The cat asked.

Link nodded.

_**"How could you tell?" **_

_**"I just can." **_The cat answered before she continued.

_**"I'm Louise. Do you remember meeting me in this shop before? Though I don't think we were properly introduced, along with your companions over there… In any case, I must tell you, I'm a bit puzzled as to why you look like that."**_

"_**It's a long story." **_Link replied. _**"Do you know the way to the tunnel that leads to the castle, Louise? We were told that the princess, Zelda, could help us." **_

It was then that the cat looked at the Werehogs again and saw the ill Midna.

_**"Oh…another patient? You certainly are a curious lot." **_

Louise looked back at the wolf before gesturing to the window she came out of. At the same time, the Werehogs watched, curious as to what the conversation was about.

"_**Here, get in through the window. The attic is connected to the castle's waterway. It's an old waterway, though…so it could be a rough trip." **_

_**"That's perfectly fine. After what we've been through, an old waterway would be like a walk in the park."**_

Louise then spoke again.

_**"Well…I suppose all that's left to do is make sure the humans don't notice you. My mistress placed wooden boards from the window to the attic to allow me passage. The timbers are strong, so they can hold your bulky friends."**_

The Werehogs watched as the cat moved to the side as Link gestured to the window. Seeing this, Sonic spoke.

"That leads to the tunnel?"

Link nodded. Without a moment to lose, the three beasts climbed the crates and made their way inside. Just as Louise had said, there were planks crisscrossing the bar's ceiling area, enabling the trio to cross quietly to the other side, where the entrance to the waterway was.

* * *

After several twists and turns in the dark maze, the trio found themselves sliding down the rainwater into a large chamber filled with water. Sonic handed Midna over to Shadow as he helped him and Link out of the water, Shadow keeping his snark remarks to himself. The sound so something skittering about caught their ears, causing them to freeze.

"Did you hear that?" Sonic asked.

Shadow looked up a flight of stairs and growled at the sight of a familiar monster.

"Skulltulas."

With a nod, Sonic and Link ran on ahead, with Sonic upper-cutting the Skulltulas while Link bit their heads off. Once the giant spider monsters were dead, the trio looked to their surroundings, finding the only way forward being covered in think webbing.

Sonic tried to pull off the webbing, but it proved too sticky for him to take care of.

"Damn! Now what?"

Surveying her surroundings again, Link caught sight of a long stick on the ground near a lit torch. At that moment, she got an idea.

If they cannot pull down the webbing, why not burn it?

Picking up the stick in her mouth, Link set on end on fire and approached the web, using the flaming stick to set the webbing on fire. Sure enough, the webbing turned to ash. Seeing their friend's accomplishment, the two Werehogs smirked.

"Not bad, wolf." Shadow spoke .

After obtaining makeshift torches of their own, Sonic and Shadow followed Link to the next room, where it was too dark to see. Thankfully, there were stone lanterns that still had oil in them. The trio of heroes lit each lantern, returning to a lit one whenever the torches went out, making their way to the end of the chamber as Shadow noticed the architecture.

"The chambers as we go further have a grander design than the rest. Must mean we're at the castle."

Sonic looked at the stone before asking, "So, how do we find Princess Zelda?"

His question was answered as Link smelled something nearby.

A familiar scent.

Make that 'scents'.

Link followed the familiar smells of wind-blown fields and iron-and-blood mixture of scents to a soft spot of earth.

Her instincts dominating her mind, Link dug into the earth until the ground gave way and she fell through. Her drop caught the sight of the two Werehogs.

"Link!" They both called out.

Looking into the hole, the boys were relived to find Link in perfect condition on the lower floor. Since there was no other place to go, they carefully followed Link into the hole. It was then that they saw why Link was digging in the first place.

"I remember this place!" Sonic exclaimed.

"So do I. This is the dungeon we escaped from days ago."

Sure enough, the waterway led them to where the met Shadow for the first time in this world. Thus, giving them the direction they needed to see the princess.

* * *

After following the trail their memories displayed and crossing the hurdle that were laced on the roof of the castle, the trio made their way to Zelda's tower. Once they were inside, Link took over of carrying Midna as they followed up the spiral stairway once again, entering the princess' chamber.

But once they were inside the room, their search for the princess came to a temporary halt, as Midna was unable to stay on Link's back anymore. As they went to check on the imp, a white gloved hand rested on Midna's shoulder. Looking up at the owner of the arm, the trio found themselves face-to-face with Princess Zelda once more.

Weakly, Midna reached up with her left arm, asking a question as Zelda gently grasped the imp's small hand.

"Please… Please tell me… How we break…the curse on these three?"

Worry began to elevate even further in the heroes as Midna managed to speak again.

"These…these three are the ones… You need them…to save your world. That's why… Princess… Please… You must help them…"

Raising her head, Zelda raised her arm, reaching out to Link. She moved her hand until it was in front of her head, when the symbol of the Triforce, the same birthmark that Link bore, glowed gold. She did the same to Sonic and Shadow. Again, the triangles shining at their heads. Zelda then gave her diagnosis.

"What binds them is a different magic than what transformed them when they first passed the curtain of twilight. It is an evil power."

Looking up from the ailing Midna, the three beasts gave Zelda their attention.

"Our world is one of balance… Just as there is light to drive away the darkness, so, too, is there benevolence to banish evil. Head for the sacred grove that lies deep within the lands guarded by the spirit Faron. There you will find the blade of evil's bane that was created by the wisdom of the ancient sages…the Master Sword."

"The Master Sword?" Sonic asked.

Zelda answered.

"The Master Sword is a sacred blade that evil can never touch. Evil cloaks you three like a dark veil…and that blade is the only thing that can cleave it. But only one of you can fully harness its full power."

She then looked at Link.

"Link…Heroine sent by the goddesses…"

Zelda then lifted her hand to show the three triangles on her hand, the lower left being more of a solid color than a translucent color.

"Like you, I have been granted special powers by the goddesses… You are the one that can awaken the Master Sword's full power to break your curses."

Zelda then noticed the two instruments that Shadow and Sonic had found, hoping that she would have answers.

And she did.

"You two have found two of the most valuable treasures of the royal family, and they have chosen you. While Link bears the gifts for the Master Sword, it seems the goddesses that brought you two here have seen that you are the only ones who can master the power of the melodies that only the Violin of Visions and the Ocarina of Time can perform."

Midna coughed as she spoke.

"Fine… Link… Sonic… Shadow… You can… You can get to the woods… on your own, right?"

Despair began to overtake the three heroes, hearing Midna's statement. Midna then turned to Zelda, her life fading quickly.

"Princess… I have one last request… Can you tell them…where to find the Mirror of Twilight?"

Zelda gave a small gasp of surprise, hearing of the artifact once before, remaining silent for a few moments before speaking again.

"Midna… I believe I understand now just who and what you are… Despite your mortal injuries, you can act in our stead. These dark times are the result of our deeds, yet it is you who have reaped the penalty. Accept this now, Midna. I pass it to you."

Zelda then closed her eyes, focusing her power to Midna. Light shined from her hand and started to shimmer on Midna. The three beasts stood still, not knowing what to do or what was going on. But as the power lifted Midna into the air, she realized what was happening.

"No! Link! Sonic! Shadow! Stop her!"

But it was too late. With a smile, Zelda faded away, as Midna returned to her original form, her wounds healed and her coloring back to normal.

The quartet stood for a moment, gazing at the spot where the princess once knelt. Shaken, Midna spoke.

"We go back, everyone. Back to Faron Woods."

With that, Midna jumped onto Link's back. But before they headed out, Midna spoke as the four stayed a bit longer, looking at her hand, saying something that unknowingly affected Shadow, who saddened at the memories.

"Zelda… I've taken all that you had to give…though I did not want it." With that said, Midna used her own power to help the heroes leave the castle.

* * *

Dawn had come as the four travelers reformed in front of the Castle Town gates, ready to head to the sacred grove that Zelda spoke about. But as they moved a few yards away from the gates, a hissing sound caught their attention. Turning around, the four saw a dark gold diamond with black markings encasing the castle.

The four growled in anger, knowing that Zant was responsible for this whole mess. But Midna unclenched her fist, remembering the princess' last words to her.

Without another word, the four headed south to the Faron Provence, knowing that they will be back.

* * *

_Please review and no flames please._


	13. The Master Sword

**Chapter 13**

**The Master Sword**

_Sorry if it seems short. I did all this in one day and was also trying to figure out songs for the Violin of Visions._

_Since I have no clue how to create music, I've decided to put in pieces of other songs into the Violin of Visions. I do not own any of the songs just as much as I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog and the Legend of Zelda. _

_The Sonata of Second sight is based off of an Arabian song called 'Longa Nahawand.' The link to the pieces will be on my bio for all to hear._

* * *

Without a moment to lose, Sonic, Shadow, and Link invoked Midna's power to take them back quickly to the front of the Forest Temple, since there was no other way back. According to Sonic, who had scouted the area for the Chaos Emeralds that were now taken by Zant, the entrance to the southern field via the Great Bridge of Hylia was locked and there were Bublin Archers ready to shoot down anyone that comes into the territory. There was also a rockslide at the southern edge of Castle Town as well as the Great Bridge of Eldin being taken as well.

Upon arriving back at the forest, the group heard the sound of frightened screeching just ahead of them.

"What's that?" Sonic asked.

"I'm not sure, but let's check it out." Shadow answered.

They then ran to the section that lead to the Forest Temple to find a monkey being pestered by…marionettes? Their sensitive hearing caused the trio to halt as the marionettes came to attack them. Thankfully for our heroes, the puppets didn't put up much of a fight.

They punched, kicked, and bit each mannequin until the last one fell, then Link went to check on the monkey.

_**"Hey. Are you alright?"**_

The monkey lifted its head to reveal that it was the same monkey that had lead the trio through the Forest Temple for the first time. Not recognizing any of the heroes, she thanked them.

_**"T-thank you. All of you." **_She then pointed to the valley wall. _**"Listen, since you all were so nice to me, let me tell you something: there's a really pretty wooded area on the other side of that cliff. I climbed over there, but when I tried to get deeper into the woods, THOSE guys attacked me. What's in those woods, anyway?" **_

This became an interesting subject for Link as she eyed the wall. Could the Master Sword be there? Turning back to the monkey, Link spoke.

"_**Looks like we'll have to check it out. Thank you again for your guidance." **_

The monkey scratched her head as she tried to make out the question.

_**"Huh? What do you mean? We've never met before. Although, the three of you do smell like a pair of princes and a female warrior that had saved me once before."**_

Link gave a silent chuckle as she spoke.

_**"Never mind. Just thank you."**_

Settling with that, the monkey ran off as Link returned to her friends.

"Well? What did she say?" Shadow asked, understanding that Link had just talked to the monkey.

Since she couldn't talk in this form, Link could only lead the Werehogs to the cliff that the monkey pointed to. To get a better vantage point of the way to the mysterious woods, Link led the way to the entrance of the Forest Temple and mentally asked one of her companions look.

Sonic did as she asked and peered over the earthly wall.

"I see something! It looks like an opening of sorts."

Shadow hoisted Link onto the wall and joined her as soon as his arms were free of her. The wolf, imp, and remaining Werehog looked to where Sonic was pointing and saw the opening he was talking about. It was the size of a large shed and on the other side, there was an opening into the cliff. Their enhanced senses could smell cloistered woodland just beyond the black hole.

"You think that's where the sword that Princess Zelda said would be?" Shadow asked.

"Most likely. It looks like that it would be difficult for a normal person to get across. If this sword is as sacred as the princess said it was, then why not put it in a place where only few can get to it?"

Link nodded at Sonic's logic, agreeing with him.

Seeing several strong vines throughout the gap, Shadow grabbed the nearest group and handed one of the vines to Sonic.

"Get ready to swing."

Shadow called out as he wrapped an arm around Link, since she was the only one of them who didn't have opposable thumbs. Sonic smirked.

"Right behind you, Tarzan."

Shadow rolled his eyes.

Once everyone was in position, the Werehogs jumped from the wall and swing across with the wolf in one of their arms and an imp flying alongside them.

When they've gotten close enough, Sonic and Shadow released their grip on the vines and landed on their feet at the opening. Since there were only a few stones that they needed to cross, Shadow was able to put Link down and Midna mounted herself on the wolf's back again.

"Come on. Not much farther now." Shadow spoke.

Dodging the logs that were hanging from rope above them to keep trespassers out, the quartet found themselves at the entrance to the strange wood that the monkey told about earlier. But not before they found another Howling Stone near the entrance. Knowing what to do, Link listened to the howling wind and memorized the song. Once done, she howled it, summoning the golden wolf once again.

With the wolf's presence, Shadow looked at the map and saw a golden marking at the southern part of Castle Town. No doubt where the next Hidden Skill was.

"How many skills did that wolf say he was going to teach?" Sonic asked as the wolf vanished.

"Seven." Shadow replied. "And we've learned four so far. This one makes number five."

After that explanation, the Werehogs, the wolf, and the imp made their way into the most unexplored part of the forest.

* * *

Few minutes later after entering the tunnel of darkness, light found the heroes again. But this light felt different. It felt old, possibly ancient. The air smelt as if time stood still in these woods. If only that were possible to the outside world.

"This must be the place." Shadow spoke. "Now, let's find that sword and get back into our own bodies."

Of course, the last sentence was moot to the two former hedgehogs.

As they approached the opposite wall, our heroes took notice of a carved message and what appears to be a pair of musical scales and some notes. Midna read the message.

"O, heroes of light. Dark times called you hear. One may bear the great sword. The two who remain, these songs are for thee. The first, for the Ocarina of Time. A mystical lullaby passed down by the royal family. For he who bears the Violin of Visions, a melody of the future is yours. Play together Zelda's Lullaby and Sonata of Second Sight, and the way shall be open."

As the keepers of the mystical instruments, Sonic and Shadow reached into their satchels and pulled out the ocarina and violin. Thanks to Dr. Gerald Robotnik and Maria, Shadow had learned a thing or two in the past about music as the Ocarina of Time played a memory in Sonic's mind. The blue Werehog saw the fingers of a man closing certain holes as the mysterious man played the haunting tune that was on the wall, while the black and red Werehog listened to the song as he played it. It had an Arabian tune to it from what he could hear.

It was amusing for Midna and Link to watch the two Werehogs try to play with their sausage-like fingers and their claws and fangs.

After further study, Shadow and Sonic were able to play the songs, though it took Sonic a few tries to get the notes right. It took even longer before they were in sync as the message instructed. Shadow went at a slow pace. As they played, Link and Midna watched as the wall vanished during the songs.

"Hmm…Interesting." Midna muttered.

She then nudged Sonic and Shadow to stop once the wall had vanished completely. But as they stopped, Shadow sensed a dark feeling that was enhanced by the Violin of Visions. As much as he wanted to play to see what he was sensing, they had to press on.

After placing the instruments back into their satchel, the Werehogs joined the wolf and imp as they enter the small forest. Though it seemed to be bathed in moonlight, the forest, as the monkey has said earlier, was indeed beautiful. But the sightseeing was cut short as they heard a peppy tune play at the other end of one of the tunnels. Curious, the company walked down the tunnel to see.

They stopped as they saw a small figure with a frightening face caught sight of them, ceasing its playing. And before they could even take another step forward, the strange creature blew a big breath into its horn and three more of those puppets appeared. Recognizing the foes immediately, the four figured out that it was that strange being that sent those puppets after the monkey.

The creature then ran off as they dealt with the puppets. Once done, Sonic spoke.

"After it! It might attack again!"

Agreeing, Shadow and Link followed Sonic down the tunnel, using their ears to find the creature again in a clearing of ruins surrounding a pillar of stone. It was on the way to the pillar that Link recognized what the creature was. A playful imp of the forest that was often told in children's fairy tales.

Remembering the tales, Link ran toward the pillar and barked the creatures name as it called more puppets.

_**"Skull Kid!"**_

Knowing that it could understand the creatures of the world, Link wasn't surprised when the creature, now identified as a Skull Kid, froze, as did the puppets.

One by one, the puppets fell to the ground as the Skull Kid jumped into the air, vanishing. But not before it spoke.

"He-he. So you know what I am. Let's play again sometime."

Once the Skull Kid was gone, a way out of the clearing opened up, allowing our heroes to go free. But not back into the maze of the forest.

Instead, the path lead on to a larger clearing with ruins clearly indicating that there was once a building at this site. A set of dual stairs were at the southern end of the ruins and a closed door at the other end. Judging from its size and the detail on most of the ruins, it must have been a grand place.

Seeing no other way out, our heroes made their way into the northern end of the ruins. On the door was another message. Midna shortened the translation, saying that Sonic and Shadow needed to play the songs again. Once that was done, the door responded to the songs and slid into the ground, enabling access into the inner sanctum of the ruins.

"Think this is it?" Sonic asked.

"We won't know until we find out." Shadow replied.

They entered the dew-covered area and caught sight of something in the center. As they approached, the four saw that imbedded in a small pedestal was a beautifully crafted sword.

Its silver blade that pierced that ground was free from plant life, not even ivy that covered the ground would dare defile it. The violet hilt resembled wings that met with a golden jewel and an inscription of the Triforce was below it. They didn't need to get so close to feel the power that was within it.

This was what they were searching for; the item that the Princess Zelda said could turn them back into humans. The blade of evil's bane. The Master Sword.

"Whoa. That's one heck of a sword." Sonic whispered in awe.

Shadow nodded in agreement. That sword was not only beautiful, but powerful too. Kinda like someone he knew. _(AN: If you guess who, you'll win a virtual cookie.:))_

But as they got within inches of the sword, a light began to glow from the blade. The force that came with it became as powerful as a cyclone, sending Midna back and nearly caused the Werehogs and the wolf to lose their footing. As they struggle to keep their ground, Shadow called out to Link.

"Link! I think the sword wants to see if you are worthy to wield it! Do something and get us back to normal!"

Link heard him clearly and, despite the attitude, had to agree with him. Zelda said that only _she_ was meant to wield the Master Sword's power. Standing against the wind, she let out a bark that almost sounded like a roar, issuing her dominance. The action caused the light to fade as the Werehogs and the wolf faded into black before a blinding light burst. Midna covered her eyes for a moment as the three shards that Zant had used on the trio earlier materialized over her hand.

She then looked up and saw Sonic and Shadow recovering from their transformation as Link pulled with all her might until the Master Sword slide out of the pedestal. The sword she originally carried she placed into her satchel as a blue and gold scabbard took the place of the old one.

"Looks like the sword accepted you as its master." Midna spoke.

Seeing that they were human again, Sonic and Shadow approached Link as she examined the sword.

"Thanks, Link."

"No problem, Sonic."

"So this is the Master Sword. The princess was right when she said about this being a sacred sword."

"I agree, Shadow."

Midna cleared her throat to gain the attention of the heroes. Once done, she showed them the shards that left their bodies.

"These things are the embodiment of the evil magic that Zant cast on you. It's definitely different from our tribe's shadow magic."

Sonic was about to touch one of the shards when Midna spoke.

"Careful…If you touch it, you'll turn back into a beast."

She then clutched the shards, thankfully not affected by the dark magic.

"This thing is too dangerous… It's probably for the best if we just leave it here, huh?"

She then looked up to the sky and gave it a thought.

"But on the other hand…if we kept it, you'd be able to transform into a beast anytime you wanted…and not at the same time like usual, but one or two at a time."

The trio realized what Midna was talking about. There might be times that they would need a Werehog's strength or a wolf's senses and howls. Now with these shards, they might be able to do that more freely. Midna smirked.

"Yes, since Zant was kind enough to give this to us, we should all be thankful and use it all we can. If any of you need it, just call on me. I want to keep a low profile, so I'll hide in your shadows when you three are human. But I can change you three whenever you want."

"I agree with you, Midna. You never know when there is an obstacle one our beast forms can pass." Link spoke.

After the agreement, Midna floated over to Sonic's shoulders and placed her arms on the blue-haired man's shoulder.

"Hey, but listen everyone. I've got a little favor to ask." She remained silent for a moment before she asked. "Would you mind coming with me to find something called the Mirror of Twilight? It's hidden somewhere in Hyrule."

"The Mirror of Twilight? You've mentioned that to Princess Zelda before she…"

Link stopped Shadow before he could finish the sentence, reminding him not to mention Zelda. Midna continued anyway.

"Yes. It's our last potential link to Zant."

"You mean…hit him where he lives? Sounds like my kind of plan." Sonic spoke.

Link sighed as she spoke.

"Let's get some rest first. It's been two days since we last slept and if we are going to find this Mirror of Twilight, then we're better off rested than straight on. Besides, we need to find out where it is."

The remainder of the group nodded in accord as they set up camp for the night. But as they did, Shadow pulled out his Violin of Visions and walked off to the place where they took on the Skull Kid, making a mental note to ask Link about that thing later.

Finding a good spot to play, Shadow sat down as he played the Sonata of Second Sight to finish the vision he was having the first time he played. Continuing the melody this time, Shadow was able to see the vision this time.

He saw a vast desert. Almost endless. Bulblins and Bobokins were standing guard at the entrance of an abandoned citadel that bore six towers with different symbols on them. He saw a large mirror with etchings that reminded him of Midna's markings as well as the markings of the Twilight creatures he had slain in the past.

"That must be the Mirror of Twilight."

But then, the scene went black and the next thing he heard was the sound of breaking glass. This was followed by a woman screaming. Even for the Ultimate Life Form, this was pretty frightening.

The last thing his sensed was a maniacal laughter that defiantly didn't belong to Zant. This laugh was deeper and far more vicious that made Zant sound like a wimp. The laugh continued as a pair of yellow eyes with orange iris' glaring at him. Immediately, Shadow felt a wave of evil that made him wish that he was fighting Eggman instead.

_"Bring me out. Bring me out. Bring me out!" _Shadow chanted as he felt the urge to run.

He finished the song just in time as a dark hand was about to make a grab for him, finding himself back into the real world. Shadow panted as sweat dripped from his body. Never had he been so frightened.

"Something's truly evil's responsible for this. I think that was the Mirror of Twilight breaking, too."

He then swallowed a lump in his throat.

"No doubt about it. Unless we get stronger, we'll be killed."

* * *

_Hey, you-know-who can scare the crap out of the toughest of warriors. _

_If any of you have any songs that I can turn into tunes for the Violin of Visions or can come up with a tune I can name, please let me know. I'm a good writer, but not a good songwriter. lol_

_Please review and no flames._


	14. Confessions

**Chapter 14**

**Confessions**

The day after Shadow had received the dark vision, Link was hunting for breakfast while Sonic and Shadow cleared the campsite. As he was equipping his sword and shield, Sonic noticed something odd about Shadow.

"Hey, Shadow. Why so pale? You look like you'd saw a ghost."

Shadow, who was playing the image over and over in his head, paid no heed to the man's questions. Something about that vision continued to egg him on. And it was always those eyes. Whose eyes were they? Why was he, Shadow: The Ultimate Life Form, afraid of them and who might their owner be?

"Shadow?" Sonic asked, getting concerned for his dark doppelganger.

The dark haired man shook his head back to reality as Sonic kept asking his name. He turned his attention to Sonic and kept his cynical remarks to himself for once.

"You say something?" He asked.

Sonic folded his arms as he raised an eyebrow at Shadow.

"I said 'Are you ok?"

"Never better. Why?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you look white as snow?"

Shadow fell silent as he equipped his weapons. He felt that it was too early to tell anyone about his visions, especially since he had no clue to who the menacing eyes belonged to.

"It's nothing."

Sonic was about to persist when Link returned with a large, freshly dead boar over her shoulders.

"Everything alright?" She asked.

Deciding to drop the matter, Sonic shook his head.

"It's nothing." He then pointed to the boar. "That's breakfast?"

Link nodded trying to figure out what were those two talking about. Shrugging her shoulders, Link set the boar down and began to skin and gut it.

After a hearty meal of boar stew with a side of bacon, the heroes began to debate on where to go to find the Mirror of Twilight.

"I've looked all over Hyrule when I was looking for the Chaos Emeralds and I saw no sign of any mirror. And there no chance that it's in Hyrule Castle, otherwise, the princess would have told us right away." Sonic spoke.

That brought up a subject that Link had been trying to get an answer for since the mines. Folding her arms and narrowing her eyes, she gave a stern look at the men.

"Before we continue, there's a few questions I've wanted answered for a while. What are these Chaos Emeralds? Are they those gems that we saw Zant take away? Why do they possess such a threat now that they are in Zant's hands? And what exactly are you hiding from me?"

The two boys cringed at Link's questions. They were hoping that with what happened to Midna and the search for the Master Sword, she would've forgotten about her suspicions. As Sonic tried to find an excuse, Shadow decided to come clean.

"Might as well tell you, since you and Hyrule are involved now."

Sonic looked at him with a 'You're-not-really-going-to-tell-her-the-truth?' look, mentally pleading the dark-haired man to stop. But Shadow knew that if they were going to get the Chaos Emeralds back, Link and Midna had to learn the truth.

Shadow spent the next hour explaining their world, the Chaos Emeralds, and what events led them to Hyrule. He decided to leave out the part explaining that he and Sonic were anthropomorphic hedgehogs, since it would seem to be a little weird if Link ever found out if one of them was attracted to her.

By the time he was finished, Link had learned almost everything. Her eyes narrowed further at the two men. She was not happy. In a word: she was furious.

"And you two have decided _not _to tell me right away instead? That I wasn't worthy of your trust?"

Sonic held up his hands, trying to get the situation under control.

"It's not like that! I've trusted you 100% from the beginning!"

"And yet you lied to me!"

Sonic struggled to think of an excuse when Shadow intervened.

"It's nothing like that. We didn't know about the Chaos Emeralds being here until Eldin gave us that clue nor if you would've believed us."

Link glared at Shadow.

"That still doesn't excuse the fact that you two have been lying to me the whole time about where you came from!"

Deciding to break up the fight, Midna came out of Link's shadow and got between the three.

"Hold it! In case you three have forgotten, Princess Zelda had put her trust in ALL of us. I could tell that she knew that you boys were not from this world. I did to. But we still trusted you with the tasks at hand. Speaking of which, we need to find out where the Mirror of Twilight is or all THREE worlds are doomed!"

The trio could see that the imp had a point. The argument was wasting their time and there was too little time to spare. Deciding to move on, Link spoke.

"You're right, Midna. And the first place to look is Telma's Bar."

"Why there?" Sonic asked.

Ignoring both Sonic and Shadow, Link spoke to Midna.

"Telma said that she's a member of an underground force and that the bar is their base. There may be someone there who may know about Hylian history. Or even knowledge known only to those of the royal family."

After Midna nodded in agreement, Link began to walk away as Midna turned to the men.

"She is going to need time to calm down. This was a load of secrets you kept from her. Go ahead before she and I teleport to the Castle Town gates and we'll meet you at Telma's."

The duo nodded as they ran out of the forest, leaving a wrathful Link behind.

* * *

Sonic and Shadow got to Telma's seconds before Link began to calm down and waved to Telma, who was back from Kakariko and running her bar. She saw them and greeted them happily.

"Well if it isn't the two princes who escorted us to Kakariko. Where's your green friend?"

Sonic spoke, making sure Shadow didn't say too much again.

"She's mad at us and is blowing off some steam before she joins us here."

Telma shook her head.

"Mercy. And I was just talking about the three of you."

She then pointed to a table at the far end of the empty bar. There sat two men, one helmeted and one that had the look of a scholar, and a woman in unusual armor. They were gathered around a map on the table as they drank. Telma called out to them.

"Hey, everyone! Introduce yourselves! These handsome lads are the infamous Sonic and Shadow!"

The pair approached the table where the three members introduced themselves. The scholar was the first to introduce himself to the pair.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both. I'm Shad. Wonderful to meet you."

Sonic gave a grin as Shadow leaned on the wall, anti-social as ever.

"Nice to meet you, Shad. I'm Sonic. The sourpuss behind me is Shadow."

Shadow gave Sonic a warning look as he kept silent.

Shad continued to speak with Sonic regardless.

"Yes. Telma told me all you two and this Link character have been up to. You're rather formidable."

He then rubbed the back of his head, sheepish.

"I'm rather NOT, I'm afraid. Well, I'm formidable at book reading, but lack, shall we say, physical skills. That said, if the history and legends of Hyrule are your cup of tea, I'm your fellow! If you're curious, just ask away."

The pair wanted to ask about the Mirror of Twilight, but decided to keep quiet and see what the other members were like. As they looked at the woman, she spoke.

"I'm Ashei. I grew up in the mountains with my father, who was a knight in his own right. He taught me the arts of war as though I was his son. Of course, lessons in common courtesy were not part of the regimen, so forgive me if I come off as rude, yeah?"

Sonic grinned at her.

"No problem, Ashei. Compared to Shadow, there's no way you can come off rude."

As Shadow glared at Sonic again, the latter chuckled.

"See what I mean?"

Ashei held off a snicker as she became serious again.

"Well, before I blab your ears off, I want to tell you something. Snowpeak, the mountain to the north of Hyrule… It's unlike any mountain I've ever known. I don't know much yet, but things happen there that no other mountain I know of."

"Such as?" Shadow asked, curious.

"Evil things…" Ashei spoke as she tried to control her rising fears.

Shaking her head, Ashei continued to speak.

"Well, as soon as I know something more, I'll tell you. Until then, you two should stay away, yeah?"

After they agreed, even though the topic of Snowpeak was still in interest, the two men walked over to the helmeted man, who recognized Sonic.

"It's been a long time, Sonic."

The man then removed his helmet to reveal the face of Rusl, the man who helped Link get Sonic to Ordon Village the day he became human. This surprised Sonic.

"Rusl? What are you doing here?"

Rusl chuckled at the blue-haired man.

"I'm a part of this group. But anyway. My wife, Uli, sent word to me about the children in Kakariko and your adventures with Link. I must thank you for your help with Colin. I barely recognized him… In any case, I'm troubled by my own inaction. I want to help the cause."

"And this gang is helping you be more active right? I know how you feel." Sonic happily told him.

Rusl chuckled before he became serious and pointed to a part of the map on the table. In the Lake Hylia area. There was an X at the lower left part of the section.

"There's another member in this group, but he's at Lake Hylia studying the neighboring desert. He goes by the name of Auru. He knows several things from his time as a member of the royal court. He even tutored Princess Zelda when she was young."

Upon hearing the last member's description, both Sonic and Shadow knew that they have found who to look for and where. Shad may have plenty of knowledge, but whom better to ask about the Mirror of Twilight than Princess Zelda's old teacher?

Marking the area on their own map, the two heroes headed out the door, after bidding Telma farewell, and ran back to Lake Hylia.

Once there, the pair looked down over the lake and saw a hooded man looking through a spyglass toward a closed off region of the area. By then, it was night. And from their vantage point, they could tell that it was a desert. Shadow got out a spyglass he bought in Castle Town when they were visiting Telma and peered at a section of towers that the hooded man was looking at.

"I see something. A desert. There's also a structure. All I can see are six towers in a circle."

"You think the Mirror of Twilight could be there?" Sonic asked.

Removing his spyglass, Shadow spoke.

"I am not sure. But it's our only lead, by far."

He then looked at the ridge that separated the desert from the lake.

"If we're quick, we can run on those cliffs and enter the desert from there."

But as Shadow decided to take off, Sonic realized that there was the matter of Link to deal with. As he ran after the dark-haired man, Sonic spoke.

"What about Link? Midna's with her and they're both a part of this!"

"Link's a smart girl! Once she calms down, she'll look for us."

"What makes you think that she'll look for us in the desert?"

Shadow explained.

"Before we left, I asked Telma that if Link finds herself at the bar, she'll send her to Lake Hylia. And I'll have the next phase ready in 3…2…1!"

Shadow then tossed a piece of paper and he didn't need to watch as it floated down to the hooded man's hand.

Once they were over the cliffs, the two men gazed at the vast desert around them. Behind them, they could see the cliffs of Lake Hylia. And toward the north, they saw what looks like a coliseum with six towers circling. Taking out his spyglass again, Shadow pointed the small telescope toward some lights in the distance.

"I see two campsites. The one nearest to the towers belongs to some monsters."

"What about the other one?"

Shadow examined the other camp a mile or two away from the monster camp and to his suspicion, found no one.

"There's no one there. Either they're scouting or…"

But before he could finish, a set of hard blows knocked both him and Sonic out.

* * *

_With Link the next day…_

It was a whole night before Link was calm enough to go looking for the men. Midna hid in her shadow as Link decided to ride Epona to Castle Town, now that the Great Bridge of Hylia was accessible to the south. It was Mid-morning before Link reached the town gates. She then looked up at the imprisoned castle and, along with Midna, thought about Princess Zelda.

The imp convinced Link to forgive the Sonic and Shadow by reminding her about their promise to the princess and that she was counting on all of them to stop Zant and whatever forces were aligned with him.

Upon entering Castle Town, Link headed down the streets until she was at Telma's bar once again. But as she entered the bar, she was disappointed that the two weren't there. Instead, she found Telma and the trio of strangers at the back. Seeing Link, Telma smiled and waved at her.

"Why Link! Long time, no see. If you're looking for the boys, I'm afraid they've gone ahead of you yesterday afternoon. But hey! Let me introduce you to the others."

Once Telma introduced Link, each of the members introduced themselves. The young heroine was surprised that Rusl was not only in Castle Town, but in the Underground as well. She was glad that at least he was alright and that he learned that the kids were ok.

But that still didn't answer her questions about Sonic and Shadow.

That is, until Shad spoke up.

"If I remembered correctly, they've went to Lake Hylia to see Auru about his research about the western desert. Perhaps you can find them there?"

With that said, Link bid Telma and the others farewell and exited the tavern. Once she set Epona off to home, Link then called upon Midna to transport them to Lake Hylia.

Upon arrival, Midna noticed someone at a tall tower.

"There."

Since the Twilight Portal enabled them to land in front of the entrance of Lanayru's spring, Link walked to the far end of the land and examined the tower until she saw a ladder that led to the top. After climbing it, the hooded figure, who was still gazing at the desert, spoke.

"I thought it was about time for you to arrive…Miss Link, is it?"

The man turned around to face her and removed his hood. His face was withered with age, but was appeared wise.

"You do know Telma, don't you? I am Auru. I am part of the group that Telma kindly allows to meet at her bar. I have heard about the deeds of you and your two friends from her."

Link bowed in respect before asking him about her companions.

"It's nice to meet you, sir. But have you seen my companions? They're about my age; one with blue hair, one black with red stripes; and really fast runners."

Auru gave some thought before he answered.

"I have not met them personally, but I have seen blue and reddish-black blurs entering the desert along the wall here."

"That's them." Link reassured Auru. Auru then placed a hand in his pocket and pulled out a letter. "Then this must be for you. Those two blurs left it with me last night."

Link took the paper and read the letter from Shadow, telling her about their suspicians about the desert. But it didn't give any mention about the Mirror of Twilight, which was probobly a good idea.

"But what's in the desert that's so interesting?"

Auru spoke to her.

"I think I know why your friends entered the desert."

He then pointed to the towers that Shadow had looked at earlier.

"The Gerudo Desert once held a prison built to hold the worst criminals this Land has ever known. The criminals who were sentenced to death were sent directly to the underworld by a cursed mirror that was kept in the prison."

At the words 'cursed mirror', Link and Midna, who was hiding in the former's shadow, suspected that the Mirror of Twilight was kept at the prison. Auru continued.

"Now that the prison is condemned, and even the road leading to the desert is impassible, this desert at world's end… It still holds the cursed mirror and the malice of the doomed inmates. These old bones know that the evil currently plaguing Hyrule is related to that wicked place. So I have come to learn the truth."

He then looked toward Link, who was interested in the story of the old prison and the cursed mirror.

"Don't tell me you plan on entering the desert and confirming my suspicions!"

As much as Link wanted to say otherwise, she knew that the only way to find the Mirror of Twilight was to investigate every area of Hyrule, including the prison.

Not to mention she had to find Sonic and Shadow as well.

"I am. My friends and I are searching for something and I am certain that they believe that the prison is where the item might be."

"And this item in particular?"

"I cannot say other than this: it is an essential item needed to save Hyrule."

Seeing the fire, concern, and stubbornness in the girl's eyes, Auru knew the youth before him was brave.

"Then let good old Auru help you out."

He then pointed to the shack that Link had seen earlier when the lake was dry. As he did, he handed Link another small piece of paper.

"Down in that shack is a man named Fyer, who has the contraptions to help you get to the desert. I had saved his live long ago, so he can't refuse a favor from me."

Auru then became very serious as he gave Link a warning.

"There is one more thing. It is said that in the desert lives a tribe of women known as the Gerudo. Apparently, it is an all-female tribe, with only one man being born every one hundred years. The reason for the warning is that the Gerudo, if they exist, are a dangerous tribe. They are thieves and are not fond of men outside their tribe. If you find that your friends are captured by them, best come up with a plan. Now, I wish you luck"

With everything all set, Link first headed to the lake and filled a couple of canteens she kept in her pouch before she headed to Fyer's place. After giving him Auru's note, Fyer spoke.

"Yep. That's Auru's handwriting. Just step inside and I'll have you at the desert in no time, Miss."

Link entered the strange shack and waited in darkness. She then heard what seemed to be carnival music as the shack began to move until she felt herself in some sort of confined space. Upon seen the only source of light, Link paled at the realization that she was in a cannon, aimed at the desert.

"Oh, no!"

It was then that the cannon fired and the next thing Link knew, she was flying over the wall and landed in a large dune of sand.

* * *

Even though the sand soften her fall, Link still rubbed her sore spots. She then set her gaze upon the desert with awe. She had never seen this much sand in one place, nor had she been anywhere so empty.

"Searching for the men has just gotten harder." She muttered.

But as she was about to begin her search, Midna came out of Link's shadow and spoke.

"Wait, Link."

Link slowly turned to face the imp, wondering what was wrong. Midna had turned away slightly and grasped her hands behind her back, looking down at the sand as if she was ashamed of something.

"Is everything alright, Midna?" She asked.

Midna spoke, still not looking at her.

"Before we go on, there's something I want you to hear."

Link stood still and listened as Midna spoke.

"Do you remember what the spirit said about the Fused Shadows? What do you think happened to the magic wielders who tried to rule the Sacred Realm?"

Link was surprised at the sudden question. She never thought about what had happened to the magicians after the goddesses stopped them. Remaining silent, she let Midna know that she was free to continue.

"They were banished. They were chased across the sacred lands of Hyrule and driven into another realm by the goddesses. It was another world entirely… The antithesis of Hyrule, where the sun shines bright. Its denizens became shadows that could not mingle with the light. Eventually, most came to call it the Twilight Realm, and from it, none could return to the world of light. They were forever doomed to live in the twilight, flitting in the half-light if dusk, mere shadows of Hyrule."

Link's eyes widened at what Midna was saying. If she was hearing the information correctly, she was listening to the _origins _of the Twilight Realm. But…how would Midna have known about it?

_"Unless…"_

Midna continued.

"This is the history of the Twili as it has been passed down form our ancestors…"

She then turned her head from Link.

"Do you now understand what I am?"

She then turned her head to face Link, shouting to the sand, unable to look into her eyes.

"I'm a descendent of the tribe that was banished to the Twilight Realm!"

Link was shocked at this confession. She knew Midna was from the Twilight Realm. But an actual descendent of the magician conquerors? Even with Sonic and Shadow's confession, this new information was still shocking. Looking away, Midna continued.

"It was a peaceful place…Until Zant took control of the Twilight Realm and transformed all of the Twili into shadow beasts. It's clear to me now that he somehow gained a great evil power previously unknown to our tribe. In any case, I was sent from there, and could no longer get into the Twilight Realm without his power. But there's another tale about my people. Though the goddesses forbade us to return to the world of light, they left one link between the light and the darkness."

Link answered her.

"The Mirror of Twilight?"

Midna nodded.

"It has been passed down to the protectors of Hyrule. It's our only path to the Twilight Realm…and we must get there!"

She then looked up at Link, unsure of what she would think.

"You, and the others when we find them, will come with me…won't you?"

To Midna's surprise, Link smiled as she spoke.

"Of course. Despite all that's happened, we're friends, right?"

She then look toward the desert.

"And I am certain that Sonic and Shadow will feel the same when they learn about what you've told me."

Midna sighed in relief as she returned to Link's shadow. But there was one question on both their minds.

Where were Sonic and Shadow?

* * *

_Where **are **Sonic and Shadow? _

_Find out next time on "The Legend of Sonic: Twilight Princess"!_

_Please review._


	15. Zelda the Gerudo

**Chapter 15**

**"Zelda" the Gerudo**

_Sorry for the delay._

_I own Naboona and any other OCs in this fic._

* * *

After learning about the history of the Twilight Realm, Link looked toward the direction of the setting sun and caught sight of something white on one of the mesas a half a mile away. Even though Zant's spell enabled her to withstand the light more, Midna took cover in Link's shadow to stay out of the heat, which made Link envious as the rays of the sun began to cook her.

"What's that over there?" She asked herself.

Knowing that it wasn't going to get any cooler until night, Link took in a deep breath and began the trek toward the monolith. But as she walked a quarter of a mile, she heard something shift the sand. She turned around to find nothing as the shifting stopped. Pausing for a moment, Link returned to the direction of the monolith and continued her walk.

As she did, she began to wonder why Sonic and Shadow didn't wait for her. They knew that she would come after them to finish their quest, so why didn't they make camp and wait? Especially since Midna had told her some vital information about the Mirror of Twilight and the Twilight Realm itself. At this point, she was hoping that they were at the structure or the condemned prison to which their quest was taking them.

But as she finished that thought, Link heard the shifting of sand again. She was about to turn around but suspected that if she did, the source of the shifting sound would stop. So instead, she called on a little help as she whispered, still facing the structure.

"Midna. What's following us?"

Midna, who was also curious as to what the sound was, watched from inside Link's shadow as the heroine continued to walk. Sure enough, the imp caught sight of the sand shifting as if something was burrowing underneath it.

"Stop for a second, Link." Midna whispered.

Link obeyed and the imp saw the sand mound stop and flatten.

"There's something under the sand about a foot behind you. Better be quick about it."

Link quickly thought about which item she should use on the mysterious mound until she remembered the Clawshot she got from the Lakebed Temple. Reaching into her pouch, Link located the Clawshot and pulled it out. Turning quickly, Link fired the claw at the location that Midna pointed out. The claw dug into the sand and hit something solid. The chain quickly retracted to pull the object out of the sand.

Their follower turned out to be a sort of a worm the size of a cat. It was pyramid-shaped with a set of green, slited eyes and a triangular mouth that had three large teeth. One on each point of the triangle shape. The worm struggled fiercely as Link drew her sword while the chain continued to recoil. Once the chain reached the rest of the item, Link gave one swift move and sliced the worm in half. She then pressed the release button on the Clawshot and watched as the two halves of the worm dropped to the ground and squealed and twitched until it finally went limp.

Midna came out of Link's shadow to see the dead creature for herself and recoiled with disgust.

"_That_'s what's been following us? I thought a desert was a barren wasteland."

Link returned the Master Sword to its scabbard and the Clawshot to the pouch, panting lightly under the hot sun.

"We need to keep moving. In this heat and with no shade, that worm is going to attract unwanted attention, and possibly kill us with the foul stench of its decaying flesh."

Midna shuddered at Link's description.

"I _really_ didn't need to know that. But you are right. We should get moving."

With that, Midna returned to Link's shadow as the heroine continued on, unaware that their companions were in trouble.

* * *

_**Meanwhile…**_

Sonic groaned as he slowly stirred, his head throbbing with a beating pain. He tried to move his arms to touch his head and prop himself up, only to find that his arms were somehow bound. Jerking his body up, Sonic managed to find a wall to lean back on as the world slowly became visible once again. But when he's eyes became clear, he saw that he wasn't in the desert anymore. Well, it was a bit obvious since it was cooler where he was than what it would be under the blazing sun.

He was in a room made of mud and stone with barred windows and a cell door. He was sitting on a cot that hung on one side of the cell. Across from him was Shadow, lying on another cot, out cold and with his arms and legs bound with rope and shackles. Sonic looked downward to find that ropes also bound his arms to his sides and iron shackles on his ankles to keep him from running.

The blue-haired man groaned in annoyance and the fact that this was the second time he and Shadow had been incarcerated in a foreign land.

"Man, I've got to work on NOT waking up in a cell unconscious."

It was at that moment that he heard Shadow groan. Sonic watched as his red and black doppelganger sat up with the same pain he had experienced.

"Point me at whatever hit me so I can kill it."

Despite his own pain, Sonic managed to chuckle as Shadow managed to take in his surroundings.

"Where are we? Another cell?"

"Most defiantly. As to who locked us up, I've only just woke up."

Shadow groaned as he leaned back towards his wall.

"Perfect. Just perfect. First, Link chose a fine time to be an emotional woman. Then, we've learned that we have to enter a condemned prison in the middle of a wasteland. Now, this!"

He then looked around once again.

"Where are our weapons?"

Sonic then realized that their pouches were gone, too. This was bad considering they each had one Royal Family Treasure. Sonic struggled to get out of his bonds, but to no avail.

"No good. Whoever tied us up did a bang-up job."

"I'll take that as a complement." A sultry voice spoke.

The two men turned their heads toward the door to find a tan woman standing in the doorway. She had long, fiery red hair tied in a high ponytail with a jeweled tie in her hair. She was wearing an indigo tube top with gold markings on it, indigo Arabian-style pants, and black curled shoes. She wore a ruby and gold pendent with emerald studded earrings, a gold snake-like armband on her upper right arm, and a gold bracelet on her left wrist. Her golden eyes held both mystique and contempt.

She reminded the pair of Rouge, only looking less friendly.

"I trust you find your new quarters comfortable?" The new woman asked.

Sonic took the time to make a slight sarcastic remark. "Be even more comfortable if we weren't tied up."

The woman shook her head.

"You have no idea how much trouble you are in, are you?"

Shadow then spoke, anger rising.

"Then, please. Enlighten us. Who are you? Where are we? Why are we locked up?"

The woman answered, her emotions well hidden.

"I am Naboona. I am a member of the Gerudo Tribe of the desert. You are in one of the prison cells of our fortress. And for the reason why…you have trespassed into our desert. And we don't take trespassers lightly."

It was Sonic who spoke up to Naboona.

"We didn't mean to trespass anywhere. We just need to get to the condemned prison near the lands of Hyrule."

After hearing the location, the tan Naboona turned pale.

"You do not mean the Arbiter's Grounds, do you? That place is a damned structure. Several of our warriors would go inside over the years, but only a small handful would come out. And they speak of a great evil that haunts its walls."

She then looked at the men suspiciously.

"Why do you wish to go to those cursed grounds? Either there is some kind of treasure inside that you wish to seek, you are on a dare, or do you both have a death wish?"

Sonic caught himself before his own emotions could betray him by revealing the Mirror of Twilight to this stranger. Especially if there was the possibility that Naboona and the rest of her tribe were aligned with Zant.

Shadow, on the other hand, answered for them.

"That us for us to know. Now release us and let us be!"

Naboona's composure returned to what seemed to be 'normal' and folded her arms, all whilst giving the pair a stern look.

"It seems that several days here may make you change your mind. As well as the fact that you two had trespassed into our desert."

She then turned to leave, only to stop to speak again without facing them.

"I am sorry. I do not make the rules. Only follow them."

She then left, the door closing behind her. The sound of the lock clicked, telling the prisoners that there was no escape. Lying down on his cot, Shadow muttered to Sonic.

"I pray to this world's goddesses that Link gets us out of here."

Sonic said nothing as he also lay down to sleep off his migraine.

"I hope so, too."

* * *

_**Meanwhile…**_

Link was in front of the white marble monolith that she made her destination, looking up to try to recognize it. It had been a half an hour since she killed the worm that was trying to ambush her and she had killed several more on the way. So when she reached the mesa, Link was relived to finally be able to rest from constantly checking her trail for more of those worms. And even more relived after taking out a Twilight Messenger ambush without the help of her male companions.

When she reached the top of the mesa, Link noticed that the obelisk was made of some sort of white stone or marble. Unusual for a naturally made structure. Slowly, Link walked around the structure until she saw something on the north side of it.

It was blood. Old blood splattered downward, which was peculiar. Link then reached out her hand and touched the blood to examine it. It was at least two days old. Around the same time she battled the Bulblin King on the Great Bridge of Eldin. The memories involving that broken bridge came into play as Link remembered the large portion disappearing into a Twilight Portal.

No doubt about it. It was _her_ blood that she was touching, mixed in with the King Bulblin's blood and the dirt and sand of the environment around her. This was the missing piece of the Great Bridge of Eldin!

"Midna? Would it be alright if we put the bridge piece back?" Link asked.

Midna answered by leaving Link's shadow and, like with the Kakariko Bridge, used her power to lift the bridge piece and disintegrate it into the Twilight Portal, taking Link with her.

When Link returned to her normal state, she was standing on the now-repaired Eldin Bridge. The bloodstains now faced the sun and would evaporate over time. With a nod from Link, Midna teleported the two of them back to the mesa in the Gerudo desert.

When they've returned, Link looked around until she found her tracks. At that moment, she realized something was wrong. How could she been so dense? If the men had gone ahead of her, they would've left tracks. But she saw none and the wind wasn't strong enough to cover any tracks.

With the mesa as her vantage point, Link shaded her eyes as she scoured the surrounding the land. Not one sign of either Sonic or Shadow.

"Something's wrong." She spoke. "There's no trace of those two anywhere."

Midna, equally concerned, decided to leave Link's shadow again.

"I'll look from above."

Link waited as Midna levitated into the air and spun slowly to search for any trace of the two. However, unlike Link, she stopped whilst facing the northwest, at least a couple of miles from their destination. Floating down, Midna spoke to Link, pointing in the direction of what she saw.

"There is a structure just northwest of here. It is by a canyon wall near another section of desert. There is a giant woman carved into the rock west of that place." She then cocked her head at Link. "Do you think it's possible that those two would be there?"

Link shrugged her shoulders.

"I do not know. But it's the only other place they could've gone to."

Without another word, Midna returned to Link's shadow as the heroine made the long trek to the fortress in the sand.

* * *

_**Sunset…**_

It was a few hours later that Link found herself and Midna looking over the immense fortress that was hidden within the walls of a nearby canyon and sand. Upon further observation, the two saw that there was still life in the fortress and its grounds. But there was something odd. All the people they had spotted so far were all women. There were some pale ones with various hair colorings, but the most common kind were tanned skinned and red hair.

Remembering Auru's warning, Link realized who they were.

"That must be the Gerudo tribe that Auru warned me about."

Midna looked at her with interest.

"And you think that those two are in there."

"I didn't see any tracks that lead to the prison. So they must be in there."

"And how are we gonna get in there?"

Link looked around until she saw one Gerudo leave a room that what may be a bedroom.

"With a disguise."

Carefully and quietly, Link made her way towards the fortress. Keeping low to the ground and within the shadows, she crept her way toward a door on the eastern side. Using nearby crates to her advantage, Link entered the fortress.

The interior resembled a military fortress, little for normal decoration and more war-like, the walls strewn with weapons from conquests or battles to memorials of fallen Gerudo warriors. There was little cover so Link had to be extra careful as she crept down the halls and barracks to find an empty bedroom. Thanks to Midna's shadow abilities, Link passed each room without attracting the attention of the women on the other side of each room. It wasn't until they were four floors up that they found an empty bedroom.

Midna used her shadow form to enter the bedroom and unlock the door, which was a bit difficult without a key. None the less, she got the job done and Link quickly came inside. Once in, Link closed the door quietly and began to rummage through the dressers that were in the room until she found a set of clothing for her.

"Honestly, haven't these women ever heard of practical clothing?"

Midna snickered at Link's distaste for the clothing.

"I think that you're shy about your body being displayed like this."

Link blushed in frustration and embarrassment as she stripped herself of the Hero's Tunic and her items and put on her new clothing. The tube top and the pants were in a shade of light purple with silver markings. Pointed shoes of the same color on her feet and for extra measures, a light purple veil to conceal half her facial features. She combed her short hair so that it's smoothed out and kept. She then found a jeweled chocker and a pair of snake armbands along with a set of bracelets that she adorned.

Upon finishing her disguise, Link looked in a full-length mirror to examine herself. And she couldn't believe that this was her. Aside from the lack of a tan and the red hair and pointed ears, Link was a very convincing false Gerudo. Midna floated around her to examine the heroine.

"Hmmm. Not bad. This may be a better look for you than that old tunic you wear all the time."

Link rolled her eyes as she placed all her items in her pouch along with the Master Sword and Midna returned to her shadow. After she left the room, Link made her way down the halls until she turned a corner and came face to face with a real Gerudo. Link's heartbeat raced as the Gerudo came closer and closer until finally, she passed her without a second look.

Once the woman left, Link breathed a sigh of relief as she continued her tour. But as she passed the mess hall, a voice stopped Link.

"You! What are you doing here?"

Link stopped and turned slowly to find Naboona approaching her, though she didn't know who she was at the time.

"I-I was taking a look around. I'm new here."

"I can see that. Only rookies are pale. But what I want to know is who you are and what post are you."

Link had to think up a name and quick.

"M-my name is…"

She then spoke the only name that came to her, praying that the one she chose as a namesake would forgive her for using the name.

"…Zelda. I'm from Hyrule. As for post, I received no orders as of yet."

Naboona folded her arms and studied 'Zelda'.

"You do know that the name of the princess of Hyrule is also 'Zelda', right?"

Link nodded.

"It's a coincidence, actually. I had asked my parents that and that's what they told me."

Link hoped that this would be enough to trick the Gerudo as she approached her. But as she got close, the woman smiled and shook her hand.

"Next time, ask for directions. Otherwise, the girls will mistake you for a man."

She then motioned 'Zelda' to walk with her down the hall.

"By the way. I am Naboona. Second-in-command of the Gerudo tribe."

Link's eyes widened at the similarity between Naboona's name and another she had heard from the legend of the Hero of Time.

"Naboona…Forgive me if I'm being rude, but that name sounds similar to the name of the Sage of Spirit in the Hero of Time legend."

Naboona chuckled as they continued to walk.

"Well, that's because the sage was my ancestor and leader of the tribe: Nabooru."

* * *

_Please review and no flames._


	16. New Allies

**Chapter 16**

**New Allies**

_Heeeere's Chapter 16. XD Sorry for the latness or rush. I've been busy because my first class reunion is this saturday and my laptop needs fixing. Hinge problems._

_I do not own 'The Legend of Zelda" or "Sonic the Hedgehog." I, however, do own the OC's, such as Naboona, Aquila, and Nakita._

* * *

Midna kept close to Link as the imp looked into each room in shadow form as the latter continued to walk with Naboona down the corridors of the fortress, paying more attention to finding the guys as Link's eyes widened at the discovery that Naboona was descended of the Spirit Sage, Nabooru.

"I-I still can't believe that you're related to one of the legendary Seven Sages."

Naboona chuckled as Link, a.k.a. Zelda, was struggling to keep a straight face even though she could tell that 'Zelda' was practically a fan girl of the legend of the Hero of Time.

"I take it the legend was your favorite as a child."

Link blushed under her veil as she continued to try to keep a calm composure.

"N-never mind that. Anyway, I take it that you are the chief of the tribe?"

Naboona slowed down as a frown appeared on her lips. Link couldn't tell if she was upset or angry. And the momentary silence was setting her on edge. Just then, Naboona gave a half-smile as she spoke.

"Not really. My family was once upon a time. No. I'm just the commander of the warriors here."

Link gulped as she apologized.

"I-I'm sorry."

Naboona's smile turned into a whole smile as she reassured the 'new Gerudo.'

"Don't worry about it. Besides, the rules of the tribe states that the strongest of us leads. Unless a man is born into the tribe and we hadn't had a male in forty years. So for now, Aquila's in charge."

"Aquila?"

"WHAT THE NAME OF THE DESERT GODDESS ARE YOU DOING? YOU CALL THAT 'TRAINING'? IT LOOKS LIKE-!"

Naboona covered Link's ears as she lead the 'rookie' away from the corridor without letting her hear what the loud, feminine voice bellowed from the other end of the hall. They returned to the mess hall before Naboona let her hands drop.

"Sorry about that. _That _was Aquila. Our so-called chief. Word of advice: when she yells like that, stay as far away as you can and pray that you are not the one she is angry at."

"She's that bad, huh? I'm surprised that you have new recruits about every month." Link inquired.

Naboona sighed as she looked down the hall they were previously in.

"I'm just as surprised as you are. Ever since Aquila became chief, things had gone to hell in a handbasket."

"Why not do something about her?" Link asked.

"Because by far, none of us is strong enough to defeat her. And the strange thing is that Aquila was never strong enough to take the previous chief on."

At the sound of this statement, Link became suspicious.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'm saying that something about Aquila's new strength seems…unnatural. During the fight against the old chief, Aquila used some sort of trick to move quickly from place to place to land her blows. It's as if she jumped back and forth from the shadows." Naboona explained.

Link became tense after hearing the explanation. Was it possible that Aquila had gained a power from Zant? Or if she did, did she get it from the 'god' that gave Zant his power according to Shadow's statement? Whatever the answer was, all Link knew was that she smelt a rat among the thieves.

Realizing that she had told some secret information to a rookie Gerudo, Naboona chuckled.

"Will you listen to me? I've only met you ten minutes ago and already I've told you more information than needed."

Link smiled nervously under her veil.

"Uh…I guess I have that atmosphere around me. He-he."

But Naboona was now serious.

"Don't let this information get out. And don't plan on going against Aquila or she'll grind your bones into sand."

Link gulped as Naboona continued the tour throughout the fortress. She regretted not being more careful so that she wouldn't run into any of the officers of the tribe. On the other hand, had she not, she wouldn't have met Naboona nor learned about Aquila and her unnatural succession to command. She was even wondering if Aquila knew anything about the Mirror of Twilight or of her and the others.

Speaking of which, Link's attention returned when she heard the mention of a prison from Naboona.

"Prison?"

Naboona nodded as she took the key from one of the guardswomen and unlocked the main entrance to the prison.

"It is where we keep traitors and trespassers. We have recently caught a pair of men last night during patrol. Another thing to remember, Zelda. We do not trust outsiders. Should you spot some, contact a superior officer immediately until you are skillful enough to give orders than to receive them."

Link held her breath but nodded as Naboona opened the prison door and lead her down the different cell blocks of the fortress. It wasn't until they've reached Cell Block C that she finally found Sonic and Shadow, lying asleep on their hanging cots in their cell.

"Are these them? The recent intruders, I mean." Link asked, keeping her Gerudo disguise up.

Naboona nodded.

"We have seen these men come from Hyrule by running with great speed up the walls of Lake Hylia. I must admit that, even though they trespassed into our territory, I find these two interesting. If I was still the chief, I would've tested them to see if they had the capabilities and skill of being the first two male outsiders to become Honorary Gerudo in centuries."

At that statement, Link look to Naboona in honest shock.

"_You_ were the chief?"

Naboona chuckled, though she found it rather strange that she would be so open to a complete stranger. Even if she was a rookie. There was something about 'Zelda' that she somehow could trust.

"I was. Until Aquila came, the tribe would be less hostile toward outsiders as we were last night. Aquila often challenged me and I would always win. Until a week ago, when she defeated me with strange magic."

"Do you think she cheated?" Link asked.

"No doubt. But unless I have the proof and somehow get stronger, Aquila will be chief until the day she miraculously dies." Naboona spoke, her tone being bitter at the last part.

Deciding to leave the subject be for the time being, Link signed to Midna to stay with the guys for now and left with Naboona to finish the tour.

* * *

After Link and Naboona left, Midna moved from the shadow of a nearby table and used her shadow form to sneak under the door and into Sonic and Shadow's cell. She then materialized just in time as Sonic groggily woke from his healing slumber.

"I must be dreaming. I could've sworn I saw…"

He then blinked a few times until his vision was clear, his expression slowly changed from sleepy to shock.

"…Midna?"

Midna floated over toward Sonic and checked his head.

"We're here, Sonic. Link's in disguise on a tour of the fortress as we speak."

Sonic rubbed his head, relieved that the girls had come and trying to relieve himself of the small migraine he received the night before.

"Link's here too? How did you find us?"

Midna explained how the two of them came across the fortress when Link was noticing that there were no tracks that lead to their destination, which she learned from Sonic that the condemned prison was known to the Gerudo as the 'Arbiter's Grounds', the origin of the Twili, the search for a disguise, to Link coming across Naboona and learning about Aquila's unnatural succession.

"So both Link and Naboona think that this 'Aquila' woman cheated her way to the top and that you and Link suspect that this was Zant's work?" Sonic asked.

"No doubt about it. Even before we left the corridor and have Naboona tell us about her, I knew something was odd about Aquila. I had sensed something from her that seemed familiar, but now I know for a fact that she's working for Zant."

The pair looked toward Shadow as he let out a soft sigh in his sleep.

"We should let him know about this."

Midna was going to say something when she heard a guard yell "Thirty minutes to curfew for new recruits!"

She looked to the cell window and saw that the whole story took the rest of the afternoon and night had fallen onto the desert landscape.

Looking back to Sonic, she spoke.

"You're gonna have to tell him when he wakes. I better get back to Link and tell her about what's been going on and see if either of us can form a plan of escape."

Sonic leaned back to the wall as he half-joked, "We'll be right here, waiting. We're not going anywhere."

Midna gave a half-laugh as she reverted to her shadow form and made her way back to Link, while Sonic returned to his slumber, the events of the day weighing heavy upon his aching mind.

* * *

Link was sitting on her new bed when Midna got done with the explanations to Sonic. Naboona had showed her around the fortress, having near several encounters with the nasty Aquila, and started on her first day of training, even though she was not a real Gerudo.

It turned out that despite the reputation that they have; most of the Gerudo were pleasant women. Sure, there were some who hassle her and gave her the usual rookie 'welcome', but even they were not as bad as Aquila.

While on a archery lesson while riding on one of their horses, Link managed to get a look at the new chief and, even if she didn't hear her cantankerous voice back inside the fortress, she took an immediate dislike for the woman.

She could tell right away that she wasn't born a Gerudo, because the common features of the blood-born members of the tribe all had red hair and a natural tan. Aquila had snow-white skin with jet black hair tied in a high ponytail and wore a black and red outfit that was far more revealing than her own, for the leggings of the pants were transparent and her top showed more cleavage that any of the other Gerudo were comfortable with. Link had heard from one of the other rookies that Aquila believed that they should more seductive so that they could easily get away with anything, as long as no one surpassed her own looks.

Despite her beauty, Aquila's personality was as repugnant as they come. Keeping to the shadows, Link witnessed her berating many of the rookies and officers in the area, even going as far as beating a few of the weaker ones for her own pleasure.

_"This woman's sick!"_ Link thought as she hid until Aquila left so that she could attend to the injured.

It was a hard day, but at least she had her own private quarters thanks to Naboona. Link wanted to get the guys out of the fortress and make their way to the condemned prison and get to the Mirror of Twilight badly, but her own conscience was nagging at her to stay and help the tribe out with Aquila's foul temper. Her thoughts on how to help the tribe got her to think about the Legend of the Hero of Time and, in particular, the section involving the Gerudo tribe.

She remembered on how the Hero was looking for one of the last two sages when he learned of the desert tribe in which the King of Evil was born and ruled before conquering Hyrule for seven years. She remembered the part where he had to sneak into the fortress to free some carpenters that got themselves caught by the tribe and since the bridge that lead to the desert was broken, the Hero knew he needed it to have them fix it.

So, like her, only without the disguise, the Hero snuck around the fortress and freed the carpenters one by one, taking on each guard that would guard each cell until the last carpenter was freed. It was then that Link remembered that after that, one Gerudo lieutenant saw the entire rescue and was impressed with the Hero's skills that she made him an honorary Gerudo. Just like what Naboona was thinking of when they were talking about Sonic and Shadow.

It was then that Link wondered. If the Gerudo were fed up with Aquila and what she was doing to their tribe, why not take it back from her? With what's been going on, why not challenge her? All Link would need to do was to reveal herself to Naboona, convince her to challenge Aquila again with Link joining her in the fight, and enlist the aid of Sonic and Shadow. Since Aquila used 'speed' to win, why not level the playing field with two of the fastest men both women had ever met?

Link was thinking over the details when Midna came in, tired as she was.

"I told Sonic about what's going on. I hope you've had fun playing 'Dress-up' while I talked with the boys."

Link ignored Midna's sarcasm and told her about her plan to gain an alliance with the Gerudo and take out Aquila. When she finished explain and changing into a night dress that was in the dresser, Link sat down on the bed while Midna looked at her as if she were crazy.

"Are you mad? What makes you think that Naboona would agree to help us?"

Link answered her, not backing down on her idea.

"I've seen first-hand what's been going on here. There are plenty of Gerudo that would rather die than live another day with Aquila in charge. And Naboona expressed sickening looks whenever 'the chief' would lose her temper and beat rookies to within an inch of their lives for even the smallest things. And I'm pretty sure that she even does it for fun. So I'm sure Naboona would be willing to help if I can explain to her what's been going on."

Midna was hardly convinced. Well…her main priorities in her mind at that moment were freeing Sonic and Shadow, escape from the fortress, and locating the Mirror of Twilight. But without Link and the Master Sword that she carried, defeating Zant would become impossible. She had proven how stubborn she could be. And no doubt this would be another one of those things she would be stubborn about. In the end, she sighed in defeat.

"So? How are we going to pull this off?"

Link gave as smile as she used half the night to explain her plan, which would begin the next day.

* * *

_The Next Day…_

The morning after 'joining' the Gerudo, Link, fully dressed and veiled, entered the mess hall and started to pick out her breakfast. She chose several fruits, bread, cheese, and some cooked pork. No doubt from the giant pigs the Bulblins were using as mounts and the meat was from a raid on them. After obtaining some camel's milk, Link made her way to a table, but not before brushing against Naboona and slipped a small paper into her pocket.

As Link sat down to eat, Naboona sat with some of the higher officers to eat. But as she sat down, she felt something in her pocket. Feeling the paper, Naboona grabbed it and opened it under the table as she ate with one hand. It was a note from the unusual rookie she met the other day.

_If you want to free your tribe, come to the mesa south of the fortress after breakfast. I'll tell you everything._

_-Zelda_

Naboona raised her eyebrow at this short message. But after another group of women were sent to the infirmary due to Aquila's temper, she decided to see what 'Zelda' wanted.

* * *

After breakfast, Naboona, after saying she was going to patrol the southern desert, got onto her horse and rode off. It took an hour before she reached the mesa, where Zelda was waiting in the shade. Dismounting, Naboona approached the rookie, holding the note in her hand.

"What is the meaning of this note? Haven't I told you not to get any ideas to challenge Aquila?"

Link nodded.

"I know. But it is necessary that her reign as chief comes to an end quickly."

"But what do you have to gain in this folly? You wish to be chief? Or to die?"

"Neither."

Naboona was confused. Normally, when someone would challenge the chief, it was for power. But the rookie in front of her was telling her that she didn't desire power and just wants to get rid of Aquila.

"What is going on, Zelda?"

Link removed her veil as she spoke.

"First of all, my name's not really 'Zelda'. It's Link. And for what is going on, I will tell you if you promise to listen with an open mind."

Naboona remained silent, but nodded as Link explained to her about the arrival of Sonic, the raid in Ordon, the Twilight, Zant, and the Mirror of Twilight. For extra measure, Link introduced Midna, who came out of the heroine's shadow, to Naboona.

At first, Naboona thought that this was madness. Upon hearing Link's story further, she remembered that something strange was happening with Hyrule at the sight of a dome of dusk overlooking the desert. And what else was interesting was that Aquila's power came when that dome of dusk came. And upon seeing the Triforce mark on Link's right hand, realized that she was a new hero.

"Why did you tell me your name was Zelda?" Naboona asked in the end.

"We were trying to find our friends without getting caught. When you asked me for my name, I couldn't tell you because I didn't trust you at first. And so I said the first name that popped into my head."

"And this Mirror of Twilight. It is why you and your friends were planning to go to the Arbiter's Grounds, even against all warnings."

Midna answered her.

"It is the only way into the Twilight Realm, where Zant is hiding. Normally, we could've just grabbed the guys and run to the prison. But the 'Hero' here decided to help the tribe out. Not that I blame her."

Naboona then looked to Link.

"So...what about the note? Do you have a plan to defeat Aquila?"

"I do. But I can't do this alone. I've seen your desire to put Aquila back into her place again and the concern for your people. Besides, if Aquila is beaten, I would rather have you finish her and become chief again. But I need you to trust me."

Normally, Naboona would've refused. But Link was right. Her people were suffering and she wasn't doing a thing to help them because of Aquila. Over the past week, she tried to find other options to take out Aquila. But each one of those ideas would go up in smoke the moment she would decide on one. And since Link and Midna were the only ones right now that know of the dark power, Naboona agreed to trust her.

"Alright. What is the plan?"

With a sigh of relief, Link explained her plan.

"Alright. First, we need to challenge Aquila vocally. No doubt she would accept it just to gloat about her 'strength'. If we can get the challenge time to later in the day, that would be most beneficial. The second step is to free Sonic and Shadow. Their speed will be greatly needed for us to win. It would be a two against one battle, but the men would be like our 'tools' to outcheat a cheater."

Naboona gave it some thought before she added her own ideas.

"And while we are freeing your friends, I will convince as many Gerudo as I can to back us up. The rookies and old ones will be easy. It's the ones in the middle, especially those who guard Aquila, that we should be concerned about."

"As long as we have many allies as possible."

Link agreed.

Naboona nodded.

"Alright. I'll speak with Nakita. She's my former lieutenant from when I was chief and I completely trust her. She will help you free your friends."

With that, Naboona and Link shook hands in agreement and returned to the fortress, while Midna returned to Link's shadow until then.

* * *

Upon their return, Naboona did as she told Link and called upon a pure-blood Gerudo dressed in a similar ensemble to theirs, except hers was made with various hides from different creatures.

"Nakita. 'Zelda' and I are going to challenge Aquila for the right of chief. We have a plan but we need more members on this. Spread the word and ask as many of our tribe as you can to support us. Meet us here when you're done to help 'Zelda release the two prisoners. We will need the help of those two men if we are to succeed."

"And what about if you should win?" Nakita asked.

"'Zelda', or Link as she is really called, agreed that if this plan works and Aquila is defeated, I shall become chief again."

Nakita smiled as she nodded.

"Understood. You two have my full support."

After Nakita left, Naboona led Link to the Chief's Meeting Chamber, where Aquila was, being nasty as ever to a couple of servants who held bowls of grapes. She was about to bellow insults when she saw Naboona and a Gerudo she had never seen before approach her. Angry, she stood up.

"Naboona! What is the meaning of this?!"

Naboona looked at her with ferocity in her eyes.

"I have come to take my role as chief back! This rookie here as informed me of some interesting things considering our last fight."

Aquila narrowed her eyes at Link, the latter clenching her fist at the tyrant.

"And what, pray tell, is that?"

Link answered her by removing her veil. Upon seeing Link's face, Aquila cringed back in surprise, recognizing her from her patron. Her rage returning, she order everyone but Link and Naboona to leave. Once they were gone, Aquila spoke.

"So. You now know that I had bartered with the future lord of this world for my power. What makes you think you can defeat me in a challenge?"

Link answered her by withdrawing the Master Sword from her pouch.

"Because his 'gift' is nothing but a hoax. You're only inviting him to make the tribe suffer a fate worse than death. What makes you think that he won't turn on you when the desert is covered in eternal darkness? In other words, you are a foolish, weak, malicious, wicked con-artist. A spiteful fraud."

With each insult, Aquila grew angrier. But what really ticked her off was that Link wasn't afraid of her. She really wanted to insult her and beat her, but she had to keep her temper this time.

Zant had warned her about the three heroes' courage and that even one of them was a threat to her power. She was lucky to have found two of them the other night and had them arrested as trespassers. But she was cocky and forgotten the female of the group. And now, the third hero was right in front of her along with the wretched former chief she had despised since she was banished to the desert and taken in by the Gerudo.

But she also remembered the power that Zant had given her. As long as she used it, she can take care of the two once and for all. Her frown turned into a smirk as she folded her arms.

"Oh, really? Then I will show you that this power isn't false by accepting your challenge. If I win, not only will I still be chief, but you two and the two in the dungeon shall be put to death as an example of what happens to those who dare to challenge me or the King of Twilight."

Link and Naboona tensed up at the offer, but held their ground. If they lose, they would lose everything. Even their lives.

"And if we win, not only will I be chief again, but you shall be exiled from the tribe and let the desert decide the rest of your fate." Naboona gambled.

Aquila's smirk grew wider, believing that she could beat them.

"Very well. I accept the challenge."

* * *

After Aquila accepted the challenge, Naboona and Link agreed with her that they should battle at midday, when the sun was at its highest point. That was only two hours away, just enough to get the rest of the plan together.

Upon leaving the Chief's Chamber, the two women met up with Nakita and several Gerudo with her.

"Almost everyone in the tribe is on our side. Only a small number side with Aquila out of fear and duty."

"That's more than enough. Now, I'll inform those who are with us to what the plan is. Nakita, you take 'Zelda' to Cell Block C and free her male friends. They are a valuable asset in this."

Nakita nodded and led Link down the corridors to the prison.

As they reached the door to the general area of the prison, Nakita informed the guards that they were to check on the prisoners and were given the keys. Once they were inside, Link decided to speak.

"Thank you for helping us."

Keeping her eyes ahead of them, Nakita chuckled.

"Actually, we should be the ones thanking you and your friends. Not many had dared to challenge Aquila or come up with a plan to defeat her. I only pray to the Sand Goddess that your plan will work."

Secretly, Link was praying, too.

* * *

_Please review and no flames, please. And Link, in case you're wondering, is NOT a Mary-Sue. She's trusting._


	17. Aquila's Defeat

**Chapter 17**

**Aquila's Defeat**

* * *

As Link was making her way down the prison sections with Nakita, Midna had returned to Sonic and Shadow's cell to explain to the about what Link had discovered and what she was planning. Shadow was the first to speak, groaning as he rubbed his still soft bump.

"I thought there was something strange going on."

"No you didn't. You were out most of the time." Sonic protested.

"I mean when Naboona said that she was sorry that we were imprisoned. I was wondering if this was something that wasn't normally done or it was her own opinion of us."

"Actually, it's both." Midna explained. "She had told us that she could tell that you two have potential, maybe enough to become official Gerudo men. It was because of Aquila that you two didn't get your chance to prove it earlier."

Sonic, now feeling better, smirked and punched his fist.

"Well, I hope Link gets here soon. I'd like to show this Aquila that you can't hold Sonic the Hedgehog."

Shadow rolled his eyes, despite the pain.

"There are a few problems with that. First: Getting out of this cell won't be easy. And second: I know you and I know you're not the type to hit women, even if they were on the wrong side."

"And don't forget, Naboona has to deliver the final blow if she is to take back the chiefdom and not Link." Midna added in.

Sonic folded his arms in disagreement.

"I know that, you two. But even you, Shadow, won't let the opportunity to get back at Aquila pass you by."

Shadow didn't say anything, but looked to the door the sound of a lock unlocking became thunderous, taking their attention from each other and towards the door.

The door opened to reveal Nakita and Link, who was still in her Gerudo disguise. Seeing that Midna hadn't hid from herself in a shadow that the second Gerudo was indeed Link. The sight of her in such a revealing outfit caused both men to blush brilliant red.

"L-Link?" Sonic managed to ask.

"The one and only." Said Link, smirking underneath her veil with amusement at the sight of the two former hedgehogs.

"These are your companions, Zelda?"

Link nodded to Nakita's question, despite that she still called her 'Zelda'.

"Yes. I'll explain the plan and I'll join up with Naboona for the challenge. I ask is that you'll help them complete their part of the plan."

Nakita nodded as she left to keep an eye out for unwanted Gerudo.

Link then looked to the two men, then to Midna.

"Did you tell them what is going on?"

Midna nodded.

"All we need is further instruction on what to do."

Nodding, Link whispered the plan to Sonic and Shadow.

"Alright, here's what we are going to do. Naboona and I are going to fight Aquila, but there is no doubt she will use her 'dark magic' on us to cheat. From what I have heard, she used some sort of teleportation magic to dodge and swiftly strike from the shadows. Since you two are the fastest people I know, I need you to run at Aquila and knock her off balance."

"Thus giving you two an opening to strike." Shadow finished.

"That's right. But you need to stick to the shadows so that the rest of the tribe doesn't see you until they know that Aquila cheats. If either of you are discovered, it'll ruin Naboona's chance to be the chief again." Link answered.

"But what's in it for us?" Shadow asked.

"I've explained that to Naboona. If this plan works and Naboona is chief again, not only she will let us go free and guide us to the Arbiter's Grounds, but will also join the Resistance back in Hyrule, giving Telma and the others a larger army to work with, as well as giving us supplies and information on the grounds before we go."

"Sound's fair enough." Sonic spoke.

Shadow was still hesitant. This was the tribe that practically stabbed his dignity repeatedly and had given him a headache that had been around for two days now. He didn't want to have any more to do with this tribe and would rather locate the Mirror of Twilight. But seeing that he was in no position to argue and the fact Aquila was working for Zant, he had to go along with the plan.

"Alright. When do you want us?"

Link answered the dark-haired man.

"In an hour. I have to go and meet up with Naboona and let her know that everything's set. Nakita outside will help you out."

With a plan set, Link bid her companions a temporary farewell and left while Nakita motioned the men to move out.

"Use your pillows on your cots to make fake forms of yourselves under the blankets, should an enemy guard come to check on you."

With Nakita's instructions, Sonic and Shadow made their doubles and snuck out of the prison with the Gerudo's help. But as they got close to the exit, Nakita made a different turn. Looking to the men, she spoke.

"If you are to have a chance in helping Naboona and Zelda, you can't rely on speed alone."

It was a short trip before they came to a room with a trove of items in it.

As the men entered, Nakita looked around the room until she found what she was looking for. Turning around, she handed Sonic and Shadow their swords, shields, and magic pouches.

"I take it this is where you take confiscated items?" Shadow asked as he re-equipped his sword.

Nakita nodded.

"It is. But only for prisoners. Others will go to the chief's treasury. Now come on. We are running out of time."

* * *

**An hour later…**

The hour had passed and Link and Naboona were ready as they could be. After Link's meeting with her friends, she met up with Naboona in the armory and told her that everything had been set up. Now, they were in what seemed to be the ruins of a coliseum that might have been as old as the founding of Hyrule. Link wasn't an archeologist, but she had seen several figures that were remnants of Hylian history she knew about.

But now wasn't the time to admire the ancient architecture. She had to fight to win.

The seats of the spectators section were filled with nearly every member of the tribe, which according to Naboona were on their side with only a few on Aquila's. Speaking of the she-devil, when the two women entered the arena, Aquila strutted out from the shadows and held her arms up to silence the tribe.

"Warriors and rookies of the proud Gerudo tribe! Today, you will bear witness to a challenge for the right to be the leader of the tribe!"

She then lowered her arms until one was gesturing to Naboona.

"Calling the challenge is none other than the former chief, Naboona, along with her cohort, the outsider who claims to be called 'Zelda'. I have recently learned that the outsider came here to find her two male companions that we have imprisoned and decided that she had the gall to challenge me alongside the weak Naboona!"

Link had to place a hand on Naboona's shoulder to keep her from flying off the handle.

"Easy, Naboona. We've only got one shot."

Aquila continued her speech.

"Before we informed the tribe of the challenge, we three have placed a bet. Should Naboona and her ally win the chiefdom, I will be exiled from the tribe, never to return. If I lose, which I doubt I will, they will be executed publicly!"

Aquila's fans cheered while those who were allied with Naboona sneered at their new 'chief'. Many were praying that they would see Aquila's head roll before the day was done. The sound of a gong brought everyone's attention to the arena as one of Aquila's followers came into the pit and handed her a set of swords that resembled peacock feathers. The swords weren't leaf –shaped like a feather, but every detail was precise, the 'feathers' having multiple insertion points along the exposed veins, making the blades both beautiful and deadly.

Naboona had a set of scimitar in each hand, though due to her position in the tribe, the blades were of average detail. Link held the Master Sword in her right hand and her Hylian shield on her left arm, thankful she was allowed to use the familiar sword arts that Rusl had taught her since she was a child. Glancing around the arena, the two women managed to spot Nakita within the spectator's seats, Sonic at the southern shaded part of the arena, while Shadow hid in the shadows near the door on the eastern section of the arena.

The three women stood in their battle stances as the gong rang a second time as Aquila smirked vilely at the two women.

"Well? Shall we get down to it?"

Both women narrowed their eyes, but it was Naboona who spoke.

"Yes. Let's shall."

Aquila then nodded to the ringer of the gong, who hit it a third time to begin the challenge.

Shadow and Sonic kept to the shadows as the three women began to circle the ring. Then, in a flash, Naboona jumped at Aquila, but the woman jumped back to avoid Naboona's blades.

"Nice try, Naboona. A bit rusty, though. I'm sure you can do better."

It was Link's turn to have a go at the cruel chief. Running along the outer side of the arena, avoiding Sonic and Shadow in the process, and swung the Master Sword at Aquila. But like with Naboona, Aquila saw this coming and dodged Link's swing and twirled her blades for a bit of show.

"_This_ is what Lord Zant was worried about? A pathetic amateur who depends on useless men to fight him?"

This angered Link and she swiped at Aquila again, but the false chief again dodged her blows.

"Oh really? Well, let me show you how a true warrior fights."

Aquila dodged one more blow before she charged at Link and struck her gut with her elbow. The sudden impact and the strength of the blow caused Link to gasp for air, leaving her open for a punch in the face, sending her back a few feet as Naboona took another shot.

Like with Link, Aquila's unnatural speed kept her from being struck and, like before, moved in for a shot. Halting behind her, Aquila struck Naboona on the back with the butt of the sword, sending the Gerudo down.

"Ah!" Naboona grunted.

Seeing this, Link charged at Aquila again, only to be kicked in the back and sent to the ground by the latter. This was followed by a kick in the gut courtesy of Aquila.

Watching this and not doing anything was like torture to Sonic and, secretly, Shadow. They didn't need to look into Aquila's eyes to know that she was enjoying this insanely. As Naboona got up and attacked, Link whispered to the shadows as she recovered from the kick.

"Get ready, you two."

As Sonic and Shadow stood by, Link ran from behind and, while she was distracted by Naboona, gave Aquila a good blow on the back with her shield, surprising and angering the new chief.

As Aquila recovered, Link made her way to Naboona and the latter whispered to her.

"We need to gang up on her. Or at least have one of us distract her while the other lands a few blows."

Link nodded in agreement an attacked Aquila, giving Naboona the opportunity to slash at the fake chief's chest with one of her scimitar.

The sting of the steel blade brought Aquila's attention to her chest to find a diagonal slash mark that went from the top of her right breast to the left side of her naval, bleeding steadily.

"So you want to play rough, do you? Very well."

Aquila stepped back and, out of nowhere, a vortex of shadow appeared from behind. As Aquila vanished, Naboona remembered this strategy.

"Link! She's using the same attack she used to defeat me last time!"

Hearing this, Link and the guys kept an eye out for any sign of Aquila. But a few seconds later, a shadow portal swiftly appeared from behind and Aquila ran out, slashing at Naboona and Link's backs. She had succeeded in injuring them, having caused deep enough cuts that would sting for a while and a scar that would appear.

Both women groaned and flinched at the sudden stinging pain that seemed to came out of nowhere, knowing that it was the work of Aquila. In hopes of landing a blow, Link turned on her heel and tried to attack with the Master Sword. But Aquila was quick and jumped back into the portal, appearing at Link's side and slashing her upper right arm.

Sonic and Shadow knew then that this is what their speed was needed for.

"Get ready, Sonic."

"Already ready, Shadow."

Both of the men got into their sprinting stance and waited for Aquila to make a move again. After a failed attempt by Naboona, the two men had to strain their eyes to find Aquila's portal. Thankfully, they spotted it just as it materialized behind Naboona.

"Sonic! Now!" Shadow called out.

Sonic then ran his super speed to the portal and managed to slam Aquila to the side just as she was about to give out another blow. With the sound of Aquila alerting them, Link and Naboona knew right away that the plan was working and Naboona managed to slice at Aquila while Sonic returned to the shadows.

Shrugging off the fact that something had knocked her off-balance, Aquila tried the same trick again, this time at Link. But like before, she was assaulted before she could even land a blow. This time, Shadow had took the chance to swipe his own sword at the woman across her back, making Aquila cry out in pain and alerting Link to her position and giving of another swipe of the Master Sword, slicing Aquila's belly enough so that it bled.

Aquila didn't know what was going on. She used her power repeatedly on both Link and Naboona, either getting attacked by some unforeseen force, or managing scratches and cuts. And each time, her opponents managed to get a blow on her one way or another. By the time the trick had failed for the fifteenth time, Aquila was enraged to the point where she decided that the trick wasn't enough anymore and began to flail her swords wildly at the two like a lunatic.

Both women dodged each blow as Aquila shouted madly at them.

"I! Will! Not! Let! You! Take! My! Tribe! I! Won't! Fail! My! Lord!"

"What say we show everyone how we did it?" Naboona smirked.

Link grinned and nodded.

"Sound's good to me."

She then turned to the shadows.

"Sonic! Shadow! Now!"

Hearing her, Sonic and Shadow ran out of the shadows in a slower speed and slashed at Aquila once more. But this time, they didn't retreat to the shadows.

The Gerudo spectators who were allied with Aquila wondered what was going on until one of them recognized the two.

"It's the men from the prison! How'd they get out?"

Naboona answered that question.

"I let them out. It was discovered that Aquila had made a deal with an evil force that is right now terrorizing that lands of Hyrule. Her dark magic for all of us surrendering to this man's dark rule. But it wasn't until this young warrior…"

Link then remove her veil to reveal her face.

"…came into the fortress, disguised as one of our own, and told me what was happening and of her suspicions of our so-called chief."

Naboona then turned to Aquila, who was realizing that her defeat was at hand.

"Since 'dear' Aquila prefers to cheat to get what she wants, a cheat was what we needed to even the odds."

She then gestured to the two men in the arena.

"These men, Sonic and Shadow, have the speed that was needed to do so. It is thanks to them and Zelda, or as she is truly known as Link, that we win our tribe back."

The Gerudo cheered, saved for those who were with Aquila from the beginning, as Naboona readied her blade to deliver a final blow.

"Now, Aquila. You have been defeated and the rights of the chiefdom are mine again. As chief, I hereby banish you from the tribe. Should you seek to return, it will be your neck on the chopping block. The desert will decide your fate."

_(A/N: That line was an altercation from one I had heard from the game __**Suikoden IV**__.)_

Aquila didn't want to stop fighting. She wanted to kill the four, especially the two women. But seeing that most of her followers were now on Naboona's side and she was clearly outnumbered, she snarled. Raising her hand, she opened one last portal and the Gerudo who were still her allies, which ranged between ten and nineteen, leapt from the stands into the arena and entered the portal.

"Savor your victory for now, Naboona. You may have defeated me, but you can never hope to defeat Lord Zant."

Aquila then narrowed her eyes to the three heroes.

"And _you._ Don't get so cocky because you've been scratching against us. Sooner or later, your heads will be on pikes which Lord Zant will parade with when he rules the world in the name of our god!"

It was then that Aquila limped into the portal, which disappeared once more.

The entire tribe cheered as Aquila fled and that Naboona reclaimed the position of chief again. But it wasn't just Naboona they were celebrating about. Several Gerudo came down from the stands to either speak to the men, now that Naboona had approved of them, and Link or to examine their wounds. Link and Sonic reveled in their victory, but Shadow was distant.

"_Aquila said something about this 'god' that Zant is following. That's the second time I've heard of that. I wonder…could he be the owner of the eyes I saw in my vision?"_

* * *

**Later that night…**

It had been hours since the battle and already much had happened. Among such things, Naboona, with gratitude from her and the tribe, made Sonic, Link, and Shadow Honorary Gerudo. After Link's wounds were dressed and they were fed a decent meal, the three heroes were issued tattoos on their right upper arms as proof. The tattoo was the Gerudo symbol, which looked like a roundish diamond with eyes. _(A/N: You guys know the symbol. You know what it looks like. Unless you play the Nintendo 64 version and the symbols are different.)_

They even had them done in a color of their choice. For Link, it was green. Sonic, 'twas blue with a white outline. And for Shadow, the tattoo was red with a black outline. The men chose outlines for if they return to their original forms, the tattoos will still be shown on their skin.

At first, they didn't want the tattoos. But Link convinced them that if they are to show the Gerudo that they are friends and fellow members of the tribe, they had to get the markings.

Anyway, it was during dinner, which was held outside in celebration that Naboona spoke to them.

"You have helped us with a dark time and now, we will hold up our end of the bargain. But I need to ask you something. Do you still wish to venture into the Arbiter's Grounds? And if so, what pray tell do you seek so badly that you do not heed our warnings?"

The heroes looked at each other with uncertainty, but it was Link who made the decision.

"We will tell you. But only in private."

Heeding Link's words, Naboona lead them into the fortress while the rest of the Gerudo partyed. She led them to the 'throne room', which was deserted for the night. Once there, Naboona turned to them.

"Here's alright. No one will come unless they want to answer to me. Now. Tell me."

Link answered her, the others hesitant.

"The real reason we come to the desert is part of our quest in ridding Zant. According to Midna, there is a way we can get to him to stop him. In the Arbiter's Grounds, there is, what we had heard was called, a cursed mirror. That mirror is the Mirror of Twilight. It serves as the only passage the goddesses left that can lead us to the real Twilight Realm, where Zant is."

Naboona sat on her 'throne', pondering what the heroine had said.

"I have heard of that mirror. But nothing good. I had heard that it was used as some sort of executioner's tool, sending the worst of all prisoners into some sort of abyss. But I had never heard a story like this."

It was then that Midna appeared from Sonic's shadow.

"That is because no one else has spoken to an actual resident of the Twilight Realm."

Shadow then spoke.

"In truth, it would be best if the four of us left in the morning. That way, we can sneak past the Bulblin patrol that blocks our way."

"Make that the five of us." Naboona spoke.

The three heroes and the imp looked at Naboona with a confused look as the chief Gerudo explained.

"You are going to need a guide not only through the desert, but into the Arbiter's Grounds itself. I had told you, Link, that several Gerudo would go into that place, only to have a small few come out alive. I am one of those women."

This surprised the group, but no more than Link, who had a stronger alliance with the woman.

Naboona explained her story.

"I was a foolish girl of fourteen when I decided to enter the grounds. I and a large number of Gerudo around my age or above decided to prove our worth to the last chief, who was my mother. Despite the laws and her orders, the twelve of us entered the building, thinking it was nothing but a pile of rubble. But we were wrong.

"In there, there are not only treacherous traps and puzzles that need to get to the next area, but the place had also become a nest for monsters. Monsters such as Skulltulas and Stalfos."

"Stalfos?" Sonic asked.

"Skeleton monsters that, unfortunately, are skilled with weapons and can pull themselves back together if they break apart and not destroyed. There are also some specters in there that can make you die of fright or weigh you down if you are in the quicksand. Only Nakita, Sheena, and myself had managed to make it all the way into the inner part of the prison before ran back out. The other nine were killed in various ways that I do not wish to repeat to you. Are you certain you still wish to venture into such a perilous place?"

Hearing this story made the heroes stomach churn. Twelve Gerudo went in, only three came out. Those were some terrible odds. But, they also knew that they had no choice. Everyone was counting on them. Especially Princess Zelda, wherever she was. Swallowing spit, Sonic spoke.

"We have to."

Seeing that Shadow, Midna, and Link agreed, Naboona sighed and folded her arms.

"Then I will come with you, despite my vow to never return to that cursed place. We will leave in the morning, but not before gathering supplies. Who knows how long we will be in there."

"Naboona, you've got yourself a deal." Sonic spoke, shaking Naboona's hand.

As the others went back to the festivities, Shadow looked out the window that held a view of the grounds, still thinking about Zant and Aquila's god.

"I wonder what we will find there. Maybe something about this god that Aquila had said. And hopefully, one of the four remaining Chaos Emeralds is there, too."

One thing for sure, Shadow wasn't going to let this 'god' thing go.

* * *

_That's that for the "Gerudo Fortress" Arc. Next Time: The Arbiter's Grounds._


	18. Desert Exodus and HIM again?

**Chapter 18**

**Desert Exodus and HIM Again?**

* * *

It was the following day after the battle for the chiefdom and the party of heroes was getting ready to move out. They gathered various supplies from the fortress' shops as well as some items given to them from the Gerudo. Food, water, medicinal potions, you name it. They were also given a change of clothes tailored to their bodies. Sonic and Shadow wore Arabian-style pants with curled boots and sleeveless shirts, all in their own colors.

Link was given a green and gold version of her original Gerudo outfit to wear, despite her protests and pleas to put her tunic back on. Naboona had to convince her that it was necessary for her to wear such a garment, with the heat of the sun blazing out in the clear sky. And if that wasn't enough, the young heroine had to use a sort of oil that, according to Naboona, would protect her skin from the sun's harmful rays, although she'll still get a bit of a tan.

Needless to say, it delighted the two men that Link would stay in uniform longer.

Once they had breakfast and their supplies completely loaded in their magical pouches, the three heroes, the imp, and the Gerudo Cheiftess left the fortress and walked in the direction of the Arbiter's Grounds. The seven towers could be seen even from the ground behind various large rocks, acting like a beacon in the desert.

After they had walked a few miles from the fortress, the band caught sight of some wooden watch towers in front of a rock wall and an entrance carved in it.

"That entrance is the only way to the grounds. The prison itself is surrounded by a canyon whose river dried up long ago. The walls of the canyon are too smooth to climb out and too thick to break through or dig under, making it the perfect location for a prison that held the most dangerous and villainous of criminals."

Naboona then pointed to the watch towers and a campfire in the middle of the area.

"Getting to the prison was easy before these creatures came along and set up their own base here. Aquila had ordered to leave them alone, but now, we have to take them out."

"I know what to do." Shadow spoke as he took out his bow and quiver from his pouch.

He then drew an arrow and aimed at the Bulblin on the nearest towers. Once he was sure his aim would fly straight and true, he released the arrow and before you can say 'Holy Mackerel,' the arrow hit its target in the center of its head, falling to the ground limp.

"Nice shot." Naboona spoke as Shadow drew another arrow and shot another monster.

Shadow kept shooting until it had gotten difficult to see his targets on the watchtowers and the giant boars that the Bulblins use as mounts.

"Damn! I'll have to get closer to keep shooting."

"Not necessarily. Here."

Naboona pulled an item out of her pouch and handed it to Shadow.

It was a mask in the design of a hawks face. There was even a beak at the nose.

"What's this?" Shadow asked.

"One of the lieutenants 'liberated' this Hawkeye from the house of a greedy sod that lives in Castle Town. Not like he's going to miss it. Nobody's seen or heard from him in a while. **(1)**. It'll help you shoot far-off targets."

Shadow took the Hawkeye from Naboona and placed on his face. He then felt for a dial on the side of the mask and looked at the farthest tower. After turning the dial all the way, he was able to see the monster clearly even at the distance.

After shooting down that monster, he spoke. "Hmm. Not bad. Thanks Naboona."

The three humans waited patiently as Shadow finished off the rest of the monsters, none of them taking the chance to notice that someone was shooting at them.

Once the monsters were no more, the travelers were free to enter the camp without problems. That is, until they got to the barricaded entrance.

"This would be easy if we still had our quills." Sonic whispered to Shadow, making sure that Naboona and Link didn't hear. "Then we'll just have to figure out another way to get in."

As Shadow began to talk to the women, Sonic looked around the area to see if there was a way he can break down the wooden barricade. But the only things he could see were the watchtowers, sand, rocks, the campfire, and the giant pigs that the Bulblins rode. It was then that it hit him.

Back when they were escorting Telma, Ilia, and Ralis, Rutela's son, the caravan was attacked with various enemies as they made their way across the Great Bridge of Hylia and the southern section of the Hyrule Fields. That included the boar-riding Bulblins. Sonic remembered that after Shadow took out the rider Bulblin, the pig was unable to stop and ran into one of the stone walls that surrounded the field, creating one heck of an indent.

"If those pigs' heads are that strong to make a crater in the rock, than why not break down a wooden fence."

Sonic then ran over to the nearest pig and looked for a way to mount it.

"Where are the freaking stirrups?" Sonic muttered.

Unable to find an easy way to get on the boar, Sonic grabbed the sides of the saddle and hoisted himself onto the saddle. But he carelessly kicked the side of the pig before he could fully mount it, causing the porcine to squeal and charge aimlessly at a watchtower, and another and another, with Sonic hanging on the saddle for dear life.

Upon hearing the crashing of the towers, Shadow, Link, and Naboona turned around to find the chaos that Sonic was causing.

"What in the Hell?" Shadow spoke, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"What is he doing?" Naboona asked, equally confused as Shadow.

"Whatever he's doing, he's heading this way!" Link called out as Sonic yelled.

"OUT OF THE WAY! RUNAWAY PIG!" **(2)**

The trio jumped out of the way just in time as the boar crashed into the barricade and Sonic managed to fall off to safety as the pig rammed to a stop in the stone wall.

Shadow growled as he rubbed his head.

"Remind me to beat that idiot later."

But when he opened his eyes, Shadow saw that he was in quite a predicament: he was lying on top of Link. Needless to say, a blush-fest occurred between the two. But their predicament didn't go unnoticed. Naboona was snickering with Midna from her spot.

Sonic on the other hand was fuming. Why, you ask? Well he also liked Link too, duh. He muttered as the Hornet of Jealousy's sting began to work its way through his body.

"At least I got to kiss her."

Not noticing Sonic's blooming jealousy, Shadow helped Link up and brushed the sand off himself.

"Sorry." He muttered.

"I-it's alright." Link spoke as she mentally calmed herself down.

As Link went to help Naboona, Shadow scolded Sonic.

"What were you thinking?! You've could've killed someone."

"OR I could open the path to the prison. Take your pick." Sonic retorted, hiding his jealousy.

Shadow was about to say something when the women approached them. Naboona spoke.

"You did a good job. I'll have the Gerudo take in the boars back to the fortress and we'll use them for our own purposes."

She then looked on towards the entrance.

"It's best we get there, find this mirror, and get out as fast as we can. I do not wish to be there should something decides to hunt us."

Link mentally laughed at that, since in a way, they were be hunted already. As they walked on, Link caught sight of the Golden Wolf and headed off in its direction while the men and Naboona waited for her. Upon her return, Link had learned the **Mortal Draw** from the Hero's Shade and would teach it to the men later.

"What was that about?" Naboona had asked when she saw her return from who-knows-where.

"Just…learning a new trick." Link replied.

As they entered the central ring of the grounds, dusk had settled eerily over the coliseum-like structure that towered over a walled courtyard.

"The entrance to the prison is through that courtyard. It's a simple walk, so we should get there by nightfall."

"Damn! There are more of them." Shadow scowled as he looked into the interior of the walls that held the prison.

The trio looked to where Shadow was looking and all three of them cursed as they saw that there was still some Bulblins guarding the site. Grateful that he received a larger quiver from the Gerudo, Shadow kept firing arrows while wearing the Hawkeye. As soon as it was clear, they made their way across the sandy yard and to the edge of the first wall.

Sonic looked around a corner and cursed again.

"Another batch of them. No doubt there are more within the courtyard."

"And I'm running out of arrows. I'll need as much arrows as I can for the prison itself." Shadow spoke, looking regretfully at his quiver, which the arrows had become so few.

"Then we should use our swords once again." Link spoke, smirking at the men.

Drawing their swords, the company kept sneaking amongst the shadows, quietly stabbing Bulblins left and right, using bombs on the watchtowers and letting the Bulblins watch fall to the ground as they party snuck on. They kept going until they found the path that lead to the prison itself. But there was a problem. Like with the entrance to the canyon, this path was barricaded by a wooden fence as well.

"Don't suppose a bomb is strong enough to break it." Naboona spoke as she and Shadow examined the blockade.

"No. It's too thick. And the sound of the explosion might draw unwanted attention."

As the two continued to devise a plan, Sonic looked at his surroundings and raised an eyebrow at the sound of a pig grunting behind a door opposite of the pathway that they were trying to get passed.

"I wonder what's in there…?"

Sonic whispered as he slowly made his way through the door. This action didn't go unnoticed by Link. Leaving Shadow and Naboona to their chat, Link followed Sonic through the door and into a secluded area of the courtyard.

"Sonic? What are you doing?"

"Shh. I hear something."

The pair crept onward until they found the source of the grunting sound. A lone boar standing idly in the shadow of the night.

"Thought so."

"Don't tell me you're going to try to ride something like that." Link spoke in disbelief.

Sonic turned to say something, but stood still. Now that he had the time, the azure-haired man noticed how beautiful Link looked in the moonlight, the star glistening in her eyes like diamonds amongst sapphires. His heartbeat quickened as his eyes caught her lips, the moonlight like a kind of honey that was glossed the rosy rims.

It was similar to Link as well. The full moon that shown brightly that night gave the man an angelic appearance, while the shadow of the night gave a mysterious air about him. A mysterious angel fighting alongside her and protecting her during the quest that seemed to have begun so long ago. And like Sonic's, Link's eyes gazed at his lips, vaguely remembering how soft they felt when they accidentally kissed back at Lake Hylia. Suddenly, they began to lean towards each other, tugged by the Strings of Desire to kiss on their own will, both of them wanting to kiss the other terribly.

But just as they were inches apart, thunderous footsteps snapped them out of their trance and into their battle stances. And a good thing to, for stepping out of the shadows was none other than the Bulblin King himself. Sonic growl for not only this guy was back, but he prevented Sonic from another kiss with Link.

"Doesn't this guy EVER stay down?"

Just then, the Bulblin King swung his gigantic hammer at them. Sonic, seeing this, grabbed Link and jumped out of the way.

"Look out!"

The hammer missed the two heroes, but struck the pig instead, knocking it out.

As soon as the king turned his attention back to the two heroes, Sonic and Link withdrew their swords and came up with a plan.

"Sonic. Use the moves the shade taught us. The Helm Splitter and the Shield Attack will be good and I can use the Mortal Draw move I've recently learned along with you. With that hammer, we need all the defense we can muster if we are to strike even one blow."

Sonic nodded in agreement and rushed the giant Bulblin. It tried to swing at him again, but Sonic was too swift for him as the Blue Blur performed a Helm Splitter while Link struck at its gut with a swift slash with the Master Sword. They kept doing so until both Sonic and Link struck it in the head with a strong kick in the back of the head, sending the Bulblin King to the ground and away from its weapon.

It was several moments before the monster stood up, cradling a broken arm courtesy of Sonic, and glared at the two heroes before it began to hobble away.

"What? We won?" Sonic asked.

Link was right to be cautious. As far she had seen, the Bulblin King never ran away from a fight.

"Something's up. Be alert."

They watched as the Bublin King hobbled away from the area passed a wooden gate, which was obviously currently manned by something. They watched as the monster hobbled through the opening before the gate closed.

But just as it looked like things were going to be better, flames appeared on the closed door. But that wasn't the only thing alight with flame. Flames began to appear in a line around the surrounding walls, brightening the place and revealing that the boar had recently woken up from its forced slumber. It was then that they knew what was going on.

"Damn! They plan on burning us alive!" Link cursed.

Sonic looked at the boar and at the closed gates. He knew right away that there was only one option if they wanted to get out alive. He grabbed Link's wrist and ran towards the boar. Once they were close, he grabbed Link by the waist and threw her onto the saddle.

"Sonic! What are you doing?" Link cried out as Sonic managed to finally get on one boar today.

"Getting us out of here and into that prison!"

But before Link could respond, Sonic called out to the gates, where Shadow and Naboona had witnessed the fight and the fire starting.

"Shadow! Naboona! Get out of the way and get ready to grab the saddle!"

Deciding not to ask, Shadow and Naboona stood back on opposite sides as Sonic aimed the hog at the gates.

"Ok, boy. Ready? One. Two. THREE!"

Sonic then kicked the boar at the sides hard enough for it to charge like the last one did. Only this time, it was straight and accurate. And as they passed the first gate, they were joined by Shadow and Naboona, who gripped the saddle as the boar continued to charge until it was safely away from the flames.

And right in front of the prison entrance.

* * *

"Alright, ladies and Shadow. First floor: entrance into an abandoned building with many possible horrors, men's tunics, and shoes. All ashore is going ashore!" **(3)**

The trio rolled their eyes as they carefully got off the boar and steadied themselves.

"Could you have cut it a little close?" Shadow asked sarcastically as he pulled some splinters from his backside in annoyance.

Once she was certain her person was well, Naboona's defensive switch kicked on and gazed at the complex.

"This is it. The Arbiter's Grounds."

Silent, the quartet walked up the stairs and looked into the downward entrance corridor that lead on into the building.

"Well. If we're going to get to the Mirror of Twilight, then we better get going."

The group nodded at Shadow's statement as Naboona lead them inside.

As they walked down the corridor, Shadow and Naboona lit some wall torches before lighting what seemed to be an oil canal, giving life to the empty shell of a prison for the first time in ages. It was then that Naboona spoke as the gang stopped in the first chamber, which was filled with ruined architecture and sand.

"Tread lightly. This sand both houses enemies and can bury you alive should you step in the wrong spot."

They didn't need to ask anymore as they caught sight of a large sand trap in the middle of the room.

"So how do we get across?" Sonic asked.

His question was answered by Shadow, who spotted some familiar-looking mesh targets.

"Those targets. Link and I acquired some Clawshots from the Lakebed Temple back at Lake Hylia and we can carry on of us to get all of us across."

Agreeing with Shadow, Link pulled out her Clawshot and approached Naboona.

"I can help Naboona if you can help Sonic."

Sonic was a bit disappointed at the unfortunate prospect of not being able to be carried across by Link, but kept silent as his companions began to make their way around the room.

Not knowing of the kinds of horrors that could be inside the prison, nor of the shocking discoveries that they would learn when they would get through.

* * *

**(1) Guess who and you win a virtual cookie.**

**(2) I've always wanted to use that line. LOL**

**(3) I was trying to be funny.**


	19. The Arbiter's Grounds

**Chapter 19**

**The Arbiter's Grounds**

_HI. The contest is over and the results are in: 1st Place: New Crossover, 2nd Place: Romance and New Fiction, 7th Place: Adventure. It is the only one of my 3 fics that I entered that won first place. All of the contest results are posted on my bio. _

**_The Moon's Polonaise _**_is based of the Ah! My Goddess! OST song: **Last Battle ~Libera me**~. Link is provided at the bio._

_Since the Arbiter's Grounds is a long dungeon, I'm separating it into two parts. I hope you enjoy._

_I do not own The Legend of Zelda nor Sonic the Hedgehog. I do own Naboona._

* * *

After escaping the Bulblin King and entering the infamous Arbiter's Grounds; Link, Sonic, Shadow, Midna, and Naboona were now passing through the first set of doors within the massive citadel. Having narrowly avoided the large sinkhole of sand with the help of the hookshot and Clawshots, the band of adventurers continued their trek with Naboona as their guide.

"Have your lanterns and swords ready. If I remember correctly, this next room will be dark and most of the floor is covered in sinking sand. And keep an eye out for Stalkins." Naboona explained.

"What are Stalkins?" Sonic asked.

Naboona answered him unenthusiastically.

"They are skeletal monsters that thrive in places like this. Thankfully, they are small fry compared to Stalfos and ReDead that reside in this place."

"And what are those?" Link asked.

"Pray that you never find out." Answered the Gerudo.

After passing through the stone door, the adventurers were met by darkness, with only three torchlights at the two doors that lead in and out of the chambers. Sonic walked ahead and kept his lantern alight, leading the others along the stone floors and carefully avoiding the rivers of quicksand that threatened to swallow them whole.

As they continued to walk across the treacherous chamber, Shadow caught sight of something shifting the sand. Drawing his sword, the dark haired man whispered to his companions. "We've got company." Hearing that, Naboona and Link withdrew their swords whilst Sonic provided the light to see their enemies. Sifting the sand off of them, the creatures revealed themselves to be some sort of small, skeletal-like monsters baring weapons in their hands.

The creatures charged at them, ready to spill their blood. Watching their footing, Link, Shadow, and Naboona swung at the Stalkins from various directions, then Shadow switched from sword and shield to bow and arrows and began to shoot arrows at the dead center of the skulls of the monsters.

Sonic, meanwhile, was keeping his eyes on the stone pathways, slowly walking to lead his friends to the door on the other side. But when they got there, Sonic tried to open the stone slab door, but it wouldn't budge. In frustration, Sonic looked around for any sign of a loose stone or button to try and get the door open as his friends fought furiously.

"Damn! Don't these things ever quit?" Shadow growled as he kept firing arrow after arrow at the constantly spawning monsters.

"Unfortunately, no. Escape is our only option at the moment." Naboona explained.

_"If Sonic can get the door open." _Link thought, mentally putting pressure on Sonic.

Sonic looked around on the left side of the door, but found nothing. When he tried to look for anything on the other side, the shadow of darkness disabled his vision. Looking away from the wall, Sonic could see that a second torch was unlit. Quickly, he swung his lantern at the torch, lighting it. But as it did, Sonic heard a loud click and looked at the door. Normally, that meant that a dungeon door is unlocked.

With a slight push, the door opened upward, granting the party access.

"Quick! This way!" Sonic called as he stood inside the new chamber.

The women and Shadow didn't hesitate to run into the chamber before Sonic slammed the door on the Stalkins, crushing a few into dust as they got in the middle of the threshold before the door came on them,

Huffing and puffing, the four explorers knelt down onto the stone floor to rest. After a few huffs, Naboona looked up to see the chamber. It was the largest chamber yet, about as large as the Castle Town square. Broken columns and statues lined the way to a large set of stairs, which lead up past four bluish-white torches towards a large entrance. Naboona immediately recognized this place.

"This is where the other Gerudo and I camped out before we were attacked by Poes."

"Poes?" Link asked.

But before Naboona could answer, four lanterns came from the entrance and flew towards the torchlights.

"Are those lanterns…moving on their own?" Sonic asked.

A chill went down Naboona's spine as she spoke.

"Those belong to the Poes I was telling you about. Only those that can see into the spectrum realm can see their true forms."

Just as she said that, the lanterns began to take the four torchlights, moving in circles before the door to the other side of the room closed by a large gate.

"No!" the men shouted as three of the lights scattered, leaving one behind.

Just then, the lantern began to swing at the spelunkers, intending to do harm. It nearly hit Naboona in the face, who bent backwards to avoid the blow. The lantern then tried to strike Link, who sucked in her stomach to keep it from burning. Sonic and Shadow tried to charge at the lantern's invisible owner, but it was like hitting air. And with nothing being able to hurt its owner, the lantern continued to swing at them.

"Damn! How can we defeat what we can't see or touch?" Shadow growled as he ducked from the lantern as it tried to take a whack at his head.

"Do I look like I have the answer?" Sonic growled as he jumped, avoiding getting hit by the ankles.

As she lifted her shield to block the lantern, Link got an idea. With Sonic saying the word 'look' and Naboona said that Poes could only be seen in the spirit world; then there is only one way for them to defeat it. It was a good thing she told Naboona about their travels before they came here.

"Midna! Time to turn me into a wolf!" Link ordered as she jumped to the side as Midna came out of Naboona's shadow and implanted one of the three shards from when Link and the men were trapped in their Beast forms into Link's forehead.

It didn't stab her like an ordinary shard would, but absorbed into her head instead. The sharp pains of the shape shifting process came back in full force as Link's body changed into her canine form.

Soon after Link was a wolf again, she focused her eyes and shifted into her wolf senses and what she saw gave shivers down her own spine. Holding the lantern was a tall, hooded specter facing away from her. Once the specter noticed that it was seen, it turned around to show a faceless face, with an exposed mouth filled with crooked and misshapen teeth hissing and wheezing.

It was a frightful sight, but Link had to attack it to protect her comrades. She growled at it as it swung the lantern at her, studying it to find its weakness. She then noticed that the specter nearly solidifies as it readies a strike, leaving her an opening. Taking the chance, she jumped onto the solid specter and ripped whatever throat it had out. But that didn't kill the specter, only to cause it to collapse.

That was when Link saw a maroon-black orb 'attached' the specter's chest. It wasn't just there. It was pulsing. Like a heart.

"_**I wonder if that's its weakness."**_ Link thought to herself as she charged at the orb, grabbing it with her teeth, and pulling it free from its phantom frame.

While Link had been attacking the apparition, Sonic, Shadow, and Naboona had been watching the spectacle of Link growling at the lantern before she leapt at nothing, floating in the air as she gnawed at something. They thought she had gone made until they saw the form of the wraith lying flat and visible on the ground, also seeing the beating orb.

They stood back as Link tore out the 'heart' of the specter, causing it to shriek as mist left all entrances of its body before the cloth fell flat to the floor. Suddenly, the lantern that the wraith held shattered and the light inside floated away back to one of the torches, providing light.

Link didn't return to her original form as Shadow saw something on the nearby wall and spoke out his thoughts.

"Hmm. I wonder…"

Taking out the Violin of Visions, Shadow approached the wall and spoke.

"This looks like a melody. Two of them, in fact."

Sonic approached the wall with the Ocarina of Time in his hands and looked at the markings. It was similar to sheet music, only with only a few notes. There was also some Hylian script below the two songs with an ocarina carved over one and a violin carved over the other.

Naboona was able to read it while Link picked up the scent from the Poe.

"They're poems. '_The rising sun will eventually set. A newborn's life will fade. From sun to moon, moon to sun… Give peaceful rest to the living dead.'_ The other one says; "_The rising moon shall shine through the night. Scaring away all fears. From waning to waxing, new to full… Shall defeat the vengeful dead_.'"

"Cheerful poetry, aren't they?" Sonic spoke sarcastically. "Suppose they're new songs for us?"

"Must be. They have the images of your ocarina and my violin. Better learn them. They may come in handy."

Sonic nodded in agreement and waited for Shadow to finish learning his song. As Shadow played, images of the moon and the familiar cool touch of moonlight overcame his senses as he played. As he finished the song, he 'saw' the name in his head.

"It's called '**Moon's Polonaise'**. It uses the power of the moon when played. Although I don't know yet what it does."

Sonic shrugged his shoulders as he performed the other song on the Ocarina of Time. As he played, he had a similar experience as Shadow had, with a few differences. He felt the sun's rays touching his body, even though there was no window or other openings that would lead to the outside world. The warmth of the sun's energy gave him a sense of security in this cold, dark place. It was as if he was being shielded from something bad.

As the song ended, he too learned the name of his song.

"**The Sun's Song.** That's the name of it. I think it also supposed to protect the one who play it. Can't get much clearer than that."

As Sonic said that, Link returned to her Hylian form as she approached the group.

"Well whatever their purpose is, we may need them to find the other three Poes. I've picked up their scent and I saw where each one went."

"Why do we need to go after them when we can relight the torches ourselves?" Shadow asked as he placed the Violin of Visions back into his pouch.

Naboona gave him her answer.

"Because the flames they took have a special spell on them. We can't go further into the temple where this mirror might be without those flames."

Sonic then walked to the center of the room, turning in a full circle to examine the room.

"Then we can make this Base Camp while we search for those flames. Link, where exactly did those Poes go?"

Link joined him and pointed to the two doors at the east and west walls.

"One through each door. The third one kinda puzzles me though?"

Folding his arms, Sonic asked her. "Why?"

To show what she had seen while she was a wolf, Link walked over to where the etchings of the Sun's Song and the Moon's Polonaise were and walked around a particular spot a few inches away from the wall.

"The third scent ends here. But I don't see anything that could possibly be a doorway."

Shadow took a look at the point and spotted something at the corner where the wall and floor met.

Kneeling down, Shadow touched the brownish floor and raised an eyebrow.

"This isn't stone. It's dark sand."

Inquisitive, Shadow dug in the sand until he touched warm metal. Feeling that it was loose, he pulled the metal and discovered that it was a chain shackle with the chain coming out of the wall.

"I wonder…" Shadow whispered as he gave the chain a pull.

A banging sound alerted the group to turn their attention to where Link was standing. She jumped out of the way just in time as ten rows of bricks slid into the earth in a form of a stairway. Looking downward, the adventurers caught sight of a door at the base of the steps.

"Well. There's the third path." Shadow spoke as he released his grip on the chain and joining his companions.

"Wanna check this out first?" Sonic asked.

Shadow was about to say that they should split up when he remembered that Link is the only one who can truly see poes and their senses. He eventually nodded in agreement as he and the others made their way down the stairway and through the new door.

The new chamber looked like a dead end with a single column in the center of the room. There was a chest at the other side in a small antechamber sitting before them. Naboona was the one who approached the chest and opened it.

"It's a map. And it looks like of the entire prison."

Shadow, who was the one that kept and examine the maps the heroes had found during their quest, approached Naboona and took the map. After examining it, he spoke.

"Looks like there is another antechamber here. But I don't see any doorway here other than what we came through."

The quartet walked around, trying to figure out where this mysterious antechamber was. It wasn't until Sonic leaned on the central pillar that they found a special property in the room.

As Sonic leaned on the pillar, he felt it move, causing him to jump. The pillar didn't fall, but it 'twitched' a little with Sonic's adding and removing his weight.

"Hey, guys. There's something weird about this pillar."

The remainder of the group gathered around him and examined it, but it was Link who made the pillar move a few degrees. Her action made the wall move in a circular motion, moving the archways from their original points.

After witnessing this, Shadow spoke.

"This must be how to get into that antechamber."

Hearing this, Link moved the pillar few more degrees until one archway exposed the missing antechamber, a chest, and a seven foot mummy with a red scarf around its neck drug a huge sword with it. Naboona was the first to react.

"ReDead! Kill it before-!"

But it was too late. The ReDead gave out a loud moan that made the shriek of the Twilight Messengers like they were yawns. Naboona, Sonic and Link, who were closer to the ReDead than Shadow, froze solid as the ReDead slowly made its way toward them.

Being the only unfrozen one, Shadow retrieved his sword from his pouch and rushed the ReDead before he could experience the same fate. With one swift swipe, Shadow decapitated the ReDead, letting its head roll away before it and its body evaporated, dropping a key in its place.

Picking up the key, Shadow approached his comrades, who were starting to unfreeze with the ReDead's death.

"What happened to you? Why did all of you freeze?"

Naboona answered him, familiar with the temple's monsters.

"ReDead's capture their prey by paralyzing them with that moan, making their muscles freeze in place. As if fear itself was the venom."

"But why didn't Shadow freeze?" Sonic asked.

"The ReDead's moan as only a short radius. We were lucky that Shadow was farther away from it than us. Otherwise, we'd be witnessing it feasting on our flesh as we could do nothing to stop it."

Not wanting to let the gruesome image linger, the four went back to work and moved the wall back into its original place, granting them exit from the chamber and back to the main room. Upon returning to the main chamber, they immediately went through the door above the one that lead to the hidden chamber, as it was closer. Inside was another circular chamber with the same pillar in the center. The difference was a single hole in the floor and the size of the room, which doubled from the room below them.

"That hole must lead to the lower chamber. And according to the map, there are supposed to be two hallways that leads to different chambers. The eastern chamber seems to be larger than the one at the north." Shadow spoke as he looked at the map.

Sonic turned his head to Link and spoke.

"Where did the Poe go, Link?"

Knowing what he meant, Link reverted to her wolf form and heightened her senses to find the trail again. She saw the lavender trail lead to the northern part of the temple. Seeing this, Link walked over to where the trail ended in the room and pawed at the wall.

"That way?"

Link nodded, staying in her wolf form.

Sonic, Shadow, and Naboona turned the pillar like before and turned the room until the northern part of the chamber exposed a door. Once the door was exposed, Shadow opened it and allowed Link to pass through as he and the others waited in the turntable chamber, knowing that Link is the only one that can see and fight the Poe.

After the door closed behind her, Link walked ahead into another chamber, this one had lanterns circling the dark room. They were the same lanterns that the Poes used to steal the four flames in the main chamber. Since she didn't change her senses, Link could easily see the Poe and attacked it, killing it the same way she did its cohort. And like before, the lantern shattered after the Poe was killed, freeing the flame and allowing it to return to the main chamber.

With that taken care of, Link returned to the others and gave a snorted nod. That was the signal that the Poe had been defeated and that they could continue to the eastern chamber. As they moved the column once again into its original position and approached a locked door on the opposite side. After unlocking the door, the group found themselves in a larger chamber.

It was once again filled with sinking sand like some of the previous rooms, but at a larger scale. There was a higher platform at the other side of the room and several spots where the bricks hadn't sunk into the sand. But as Sonic was about to approach one of the brick spots with the least distance from where they were, three large spikes rose quickly from the sand, blocking his path.

Shadow scoffed.

"Great. Now we have to watch out for spikes like that from now on. In the meantime, tread carefully."

Link then approached the brick stepping stone from the southern angle and, much like she thought, stone spikes didn't pop between her and her destination. Link continued onward, making sure to get out of the sand whenever she was blocked. The others followed her corrected paths until they reached the stone walkway at the other side.

Once safely away from the sinking sand, the quartet looked at the path ahead of them. There was a gap that Link and Naboona couldn't cross on their own and a large chandelier was blocking all four of them from the door at the end of the passage. But the men did find something that could aid them part way. It was a large metal cube and it looked movable too. It could've been a cell of sorts when there was little room in the larger cells.

Deciding to try to impress the wolf, Sonic approached the cubed cell and began to pull it towards them until it was in position between the two ends of the gap. Then, he pushed it inwards so that the entire cell became one with the wall. This not only provided a way to cross to the tier on the other side, but exposed a small stairway that lead to the upper tier. It did impressed Link, but it ignited envy within Shadow when he saw how she looked at the blue-haired man. He got his opportunity when he went up the stairway first and saw a chain like the one near the entrance to the Arbiter's Grounds. And with the block cell providing him more footholds, Shadow was able to pull the chain to the other tier, causing the fallen chandelier to rise.

This provided his comrades a way to cross to the other open chamber and, after they crossed, Shadow released his grip on the chain and used his speed to make it across just before the chandelier even moved its way back down to the ground. Naboona was the first to speak to him.

"Good eye, Shadow. I'd hate to find a way through all of that sinking sand to get here."

Link nodded in agreement, thanks showing in her eyes.

This, of course, didn't go unnoticed by Sonic, whose envy only grew as Shadow was the recipient of Link's beautiful eyes this time. And so, it was then that the competition between Sonic and Shadow began for Link's affection, the wolf-woman being oblivious to their exposing emotions. She was more focused on finding this Mirror of Twilight and stop Zant from terrorizing the world of light.

But Naboona and Midna noticed what was going on and both had their own reactions. Midna shook her head in exasperation while Naboona chuckled.

"Are those two always like this?" The Gerudo chief asked the imp, who shook her head.

"Only when Link is around. Although, this is the first time they've noticed that the other is feeling something for her."

Midna had to whisper so that Link didn't hear what she said. This wasn't a good time to tell the otherwise vigilant heroine how oblivious she really was. All that mattered to her was getting to Zant.

When they arrived at the open chamber, they found it had two entryways, one door chained by a lock. In the middle of the room was a statue of a woman, her face worn off by the flow of time. Link used her senses again and found that the third Poe fled to the locked room but was defiantly closer than before. Shadow walked ahead of the statue to an antechamber and found a compass for the prison.

Checking the map, he found that there was another antechamber and a treasure chest in it across from the locked door.

"That must be where the key is."

Theorizing that the statue was like the column where he found the first key, Shadow approached the stone edifice and struggled to turn it. And, just like he thought, the statue turned, revealing the antechamber. And another ReDead. Naboona, who saw this, swiftly killed it before it could freeze them with its paralyzing moan.

She then entered the chamber and opened the chest. Sure enough, the key was in there. After Naboona left the antechamber, Shadow turned the statue back to its original position and granted them all access to the locked door, which had been blocked by wall when Shadow first turned it. The Gerudo then unlocked the door and all of them went inside.

The next chamber was a hallway that circled a squarish area. And as they pressed on, making sure to stay out of the sand when necessarily, they were beset by a small army of Stalkins. Thankfully, time has made the monsters' boney structure too brittle and were taken down in one stroke per section. Of course, when they reached the northwest corner, they spotted another ReDead at the other end of the hall, unable to get near them without stepping into the sinking sand.

It was then that Shadow took out his bow and tied a water bomb to one of his arrows. Readying the bow, he walked over to the nearby torch and lit it with its flame.

"Stand back. This is live."

The other two heroes, the chief, and the imp saw this and immediately stood back as Shadow aimed at the ReDead before firing the arrow before the bomb could go off. And just like that, the ReDead fell as the bombed arrow made contact with its target. The sound brought forth a second ReDead that was hiding behind the squared section in the center of the room. And, like with the first one, Shadow shot at this ReDead with a bombed arrow, killing it instantly.

With the ReDead 'dead', the travelers were free to continue. But as they walked around the corner where the ReDeads were, a familiar scent assaulted Link's wolf senses. There was a Poe nearby. Shifting senses again, Link followed the scent to a wall that made up the squarish center of the corridor. After seeing that Link was sensing another Poe nearby, Naboona looked around until she found some soft earth and dug. Like back at the main chamber, there was a hidden chain beneath the sand.

With strong movement, Naboona pulled the chain, which caused the wall to move to the side, revealing a hidden antechamber and a floating lantern. Link was quick to act and killed the Poe, freeing the light captured inside the small lamp. This now meant that there was one Poe left standing between them and the Mirror of Twilight.

After passing two more chambers, the company of adventurers came across another monster, which Naboona immediately identified before it even stood up.

"Stalfos!"

The Stalfos was a large skeleton, about the size of a strong man. Naboona broke it into pieces before telling the men, "I need a live bomb, here!"

Sensing the urgency in the Cheiftess' voice, Sonic complied and placed a bomb on the remains of the Stalfos. And as he moved back, he and his friends could see why.

The bones of the Stalfos were beginning to move as the bomb went off. No doubt to reassemble the monster and continue to pester them had the bones not shatter in the explosion. As they pressed on, Naboona spoke.

"It was a good thing you had those bombs with you. When I was in here last, one of the girls I was with kept fighting and fighting the same monster until it killed her when she exhausted herself."

They entered another chamber, one with a statue of a snake woman at the other end of the room. At Naboona's instruction, Sonic lit the front and far back left torches instead of all five. This action caused the door to the next room to open.

Curious, Shadow asked, "What would've happen if the other torches were lit?"

Naboona answered.

"Army after army of Stalkins. But that's nothing compared to what I had to face in this place."

This caught their attention. Was there something worse in the prison that Naboona only knew about? Would it attack them if they ever came across it? Knowing their luck, it was a high possibility. Deciding to wait a bit before asking, the party pressed on to the last chamber, where the last Poe was.

"Finally!" Shadow muttered, unaware that this Poe wasn't going to make things easy like its cohorts.

Through Link's eyes, the Poe split in four and circled the wolf, knowing she was the only one that can see it. Link waited until one of the copies raised its arm to attack before she could attack and kill it, releasing the last of the lights.

It was then that Link could finally return to her true form, signaling the others that they were done. With the Poes taken care of, the four went back to the main chamber.

* * *

Upon their arrival, the three missing fires appeared from their former locations and returned to their respective torch pots. This caused the gate that barred their path to open and expose the path ahead.

Stretching, Sonic spoke. "I don't know about any of you, but finding those flames got me beat."

Link rubbed her temples and groaned.

"And I have a headache from switching senses all the time."

Naboona nodded as she began to set up camp.

"It's bound to be night by now. And with this long ghost chase, it is a wonder we didn't collapse back at the last chamber. Since no other monsters comes into this chamber, we can safely rest here."

The trio couldn't agree more and Link began to help Naboona set up camp while Sonic decided to speak with Shadow.

Alone.

"Shadow. Can I talk to you a minute? Alone?"

Shadow raised an eyebrow but complied as he followed Sonic down the stairs where the door to the chamber where they found their first ReDead. Once they were safely out of earshot from the women, Sonic spoke.

"What are you playing at, Shadow?"

Shadow folded his arms in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"About Link. I don't want you to get 'cozy' with her."

The Ultimate Life Form's eyes widened at this accusation. Sonic was telling him to stay away from Link?

"And by whose order am I to listen to you? I can be close with whoever I please."

It was then that he figured it out and narrowed his eyes at Sonic.

"Oh! Don't tell me. **You're **attracted to her, too? That is why you were trying to outdo me this whole time?"

Sonic gritted his teeth angrily.

"I've known Link longer than you, Shadow, and you've been nothing but cold to her ever since that day at the castle."

"You've only known her for two days before you 'found' me, you dunce. That is still not enough to develop anything other than acquaintanceship." Shadow hissed.

"Even so, I'm still closer to her than you. Or did you forget that you were sulking in Kakariko's graveyard while the two of us were at Ordon to learn a way to combat the Gorons?"

"And did _you _forget that I spent an entire day with her at the Lakebed Temple?"

"You were still cold to her afterwards!"

"A little less cold than when we first spoke to Lanayru, I'll admit."

Sonic pointed at his dark doppelganger.

"I know you, Shadow the Hedgehog, and I know you don't warm up to people so easily, even after a few days of meeting someone. There is no way you love Link in a few days as much as I love her now!"

It was then that Sonic realized what he had said. He loved Link. That was the first time he admitted it. If only Shadow wasn't a witness to what he had just said.

"You only knew her a few days yourself and you have the gall to say that you love her? You hypocrite."

Sonic was about to retaliate when they heard Link call.

"You guys alright? Naboona and I were just about to get dinner ready."

Both men were distracted for a bit before Sonic spoke.

"Just a minute, Link. We'll be there in a few."

They then turned their glares back at each other.

"This isn't the end and you know it."

Shadow placed his fists on his waist as he spoke.

"How about this then? The first one to get Link to say 'I love you' with will be the one to share their love with her."

"You're on!"

And it was with that that the battle for Link's heart silently began.

* * *

_Please Review._


	20. A Devastating Discovery

**Chapter 20**

**A Devastating Discovery**

_This is my Christmas present to all of my readers and reviewers. Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, and every other winter holiday I don't know about. _

_I'd like to thank Yoshevil for all of the suggestions they gave me and to making this chapter possible. I also like to thank Kiyo Hosokawa who is a faithful reviewer and a good friend._

* * *

After a hearty dinner and a (for once) peaceful night's sleep, our heroes and Naboona awake to find themselves still in the haunted prison that is the Arbiter's Grounds with a wide crack allowing the sunlight in and inform them of the time of day on the ceiling of the first main chamber that they had stayed in. Knowing that there was still more to be done in order to find the fabled Mirror of Twilight, the four humans (with Midna still in Link's shadow) began to pack up, Naboona and Link unaware of the sudden intense rivalry between Sonic and Shadow for Link's affection.

Oh, if only they knew that Link was more preoccupied with saving Hyrule at the moment than figuring out which guy she liked.

After the supplies were properly packed again, Link looked at Naboona and spoke.

"Any clue on how long it will take to get to the chamber where the mirror is stored?"

Naboona answered truthfully, looking grimly at the opened gateway that the group had unlocked the previous day.

"We should get to the mirror's chamber by nightfall, but we must be wary. There are more powerful creatures in there than the Poes from the other day."

Shadow narrowed his eyes at Naboona's answer.

"Great. More monsters."

Sonic, on the other hand, smirked as he waved his sword around.

"Don't worry. We're the best fighters in Hyrule. I'm sure it's nothing we can't handle."

Shadow glared at Sonic, muttering to himself.

"Says the idiot who is still getting used to his human body."

Sonic glared back at Shadow as the girls began to make their trek deeper into the prison.

"Just be careful, alright?" Link spoke as she walked on.

After walking down the long corridor, our heroes found themselves in a large, circular chamber. There were two doorways at the east and west sides and a broken half-wall at the other side. In the center of the chamber, however, were several holes that exposed the contents under the floor. But there was something odd about them. In the holes were, of all places, gears. Cogs and gears connected like a well put-together machine. Among the exposed cogs were three gears with unusual indents in the center of each gear.

As they examined the gears, Naboona spoke.

"There are three items hidden in this place that can turn those kinds of gears. But I'm not sure if the monsters move them or not." Shadow looked to the Gerudo Cheiftess with questioning eyes. "You have seen these items before."

Naboona shook her head.

"One of the warriors that was with me all those years ago had seen and used them to help us navigate through this place. But he was then killed by a demon that resides here."

Link and Sonic looked at Naboona grimly.

"Demon?"

"What kind of demon are you talking about?"

Naboona answered Sonic, her answer nowhere near healing their developing anxiety.

"Pray that we'll never find it."

Despite not being a whole answer, the heroes settled with it and continued onward through the eastern door.

After making use of another column mechanism in the next chamber, they found themselves in another sanded room that was filled not only with Stalkin and rats, but with ghost rats as well. More of those sensor spikes forced them to take a winding path between the stone and the sand to the other side of the room. Of course, they had to take out a ReDead once they reached the other side of the chamber.

After passing through the next door and made their down a sand covered corridor, the four found themselves in a chamber that had a spinning iron logs covered in spikes circling counterclockwise around the room. Carefully avoiding the spikes, the heroes managed to make their way to one of the open corridors at the eastern part of the chamber and began making their trek up a hill of sand. As they reached the upper half of the winding chamber, Link could hear Sonic and Shadow arguing, despite them whispering. This was something the heroine noticed wasn't normal with the two and it was making her frustrated.

"Honestly? What are they argue about that can't wait until later?"

Of course, the former hedgehogs were arguing about who should be with Link, which had been going on since they left the main chamber where they had camped out. It was at this point that Shadow thought of something that changed the argument to a decent conversation for once.

"Wait a minute, Faker. Suppose the Chaos Emeralds are our ticket home. If Link does choose one of us, should we stay?"

For once, Sonic had no answer off the bat. Having forgotten that he and Shadow were from another world, Sonic began to wonder as well. Hyrule was too undeveloped for Link to adjust well if she were to follow them to Mobius and with Robotnik still on the loose; Sonic couldn't just stay in the kingdom that grew on him. It was then that Sonic realized the dilemma went farther than how to defeat Zant.

Link noticed the silence between Sonic and Shadow and it seemed worse than when they were arguing. After reaching the peak of the hill of sinking sand, Link looked to the men and spoke.

"Are you two alright? You have been arguing since we left camp and now you're as quiet as a mouse."

Realizing that their crush was becoming suspicious of them, Sonic spoke up.

"I-it's nothing, Link. Just some guy-talk."

Link wasn't convinced but let it drop for now as Naboona was getting farther ahead than them.

As they caught up with Naboona, they reached the Cheiftess in time as she stopped to stare at a door near a line of strange indents along a curved wall. They noticed that something seemed wrong as they noticed that she was sweating and shaking with fear, which was uncommon to the trio. As they got closer to Naboona, Shadow felt a familiar power as he got near. This didn't go unnoticed by Sonic, who felt that power many times before.

The power of a Chaos Emerald.

Not noticing the power, Link reached out and placed a hand on Naboona's shoulder, startling her.

"Naboona? Is everything alright?"

A gulp answered Link, letting her know that everything was not well. After calming herself, Naboona spoke to the trio and the imp who remained in Link's shadow.

"Beyond this door, the demon has been sealed away."

This caught the interest of the heroes as Sonic spoke.

"The demon?"

Hesitate, Naboona answered as she returned her gaze to the door.

"The most casualties in this place when I came here were caused by the demon. It was as if he was waiting for new, stronger victims to reach him. For once, I was grateful that my young age told me to hide while the rest of the Gerudo who ventured in foolishly fought him. Not one of them survived. I still remember him finding me and raising his sword to slice me in half had I not dodged him before I managed to seal him using an ancient Gerudo demon sealing art. I still can't get his loud demonic shriek out of my head. He had been the bane of my dreams for months."

A shiver went down the heroes' spine after hearing about the demon that wiped out the majority of the unfortunate Gerudo and had nearly killed Naboona. Gulping, Link asked Naboona a question.

"Do you think those seals are still working?"

Placing a hand on the door, Naboona gave her answer.

"I just hope so."

* * *

Naboona then opened the door, all four of them weapons drawn. The entered a large, dark, circular chamber where the aura appeared to be stronger. In the center of the chamber was a large sword impaled into the ground. Tied to the sword were several ropes possessing the paper seals that Naboona used long ago, all showed the signs of age as they had taken a beating by time.

Naboona breathed a sigh of relief as she examined the seals.

"Good. They're still holding the demon."

Shadow and Link decided to take a look at the seals and Link, since she's the only one of the three heroes who can read Hylian easily, translated aloud.

"They say 'Death will come on swift wings to those who sever these binds'. I take it that'll be true should such a thing happen?"

As Naboona began to talk with Link, the men returned to their previous conversation.

"Well? What is your answer, Faker?"

Sonic narrowed his eyes at Shadow.

"Will you quit calling me that? I don't know yet."

He then gave a suspicious glance at Shadow.

"What about you? What would you do? After all, you can't age."

That statement got on Shadow's nerves as he growled at Sonic.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Simple. Link, unlike you, is mortal. She will grow old and die one day. What will you do when that happens should she choose you? In fact, I'm not even sure you can sire children."

Irritated, Shadow pointed his sword at Sonic, who brought up his own sword to protect him.

"I can assure you, I can. But what does that have to do with me staying in Hyrule."

"Oh, come on! Even if you can have kids, they will grow old and die right before your eyes along with their descendants. Such a thing will agonize Link for the rest of her life. She deserves someone who can grow old _with_ her."

Shadow's rage continued to boil as he started to growl louder.

"And what makes you think she will choose you? She still doesn't know you were born a hedgehog and remember the last time she found out a secret we slip out that we kept from her? You not telling Link who you really are was what got us captured by Aquila's Gerudo in the first place. I may not grow old, but at least I don't keep secrets from those I care about."

"And who do you care about now? Everyone you actually cared about died fifty-one years ago on the ARK. Or have you forgotten about Maria?"

That did it.

Before Sonic realized it, the mere mention of Maria, Gerald Robotnik's granddaughter and Eggman's cousin, caused Shadow to snap. He had gone too far. Shadow then charged at Sonic and swung his sword in a blind rage. Sonic used his sword and shield to block and swing back at Shadow, who blocked as well.

The sounds of their combat reached the ears of the three females, Midna coming out to speak, and unknowingly caught their gazes, which were filled with shock and horror.

"What the devil are you two doing?!" Link shouted, trying to get their attention.

"This is not a good time to fight!" Midna scolded.

"Are you two mad or something? I'm not fond of the two of you fighting each other, but don't fight in here! You'll-!"

But before Naboona could finish her sentence, a single swing from Sonic missed Shadow and sliced something else: one of the rope seals.

The women froze in place as Midna returned to Link's shadow. Moments of silence passed before red symbols began to glow on the large blade as it shook a little. Then violently, which caused the two men to finally stop and see what their bickering had done, their eyes widen with absolute horror.

"Dear god!"-Sonic.

"What have we done?"-Shadow.

Just then, the remaining seals burst into flames, releasing the blade as it pulled itself out of the ground, swung around, and readied itself to attack as a shrill, raspy voice spoke out of nowhere.

"Free… At last…"

The sword then swung at the group, particularly at the women. Thankfully, they dodged just in time as the blade came down. Quick in trying to find a weakness, the men swung their swords at the blade while trying to find a body to hit.

Link turned to Naboona, who was filled with absolute horror.

"Naboona! How is that sword moving?"

Naboona gulped as she answered.

"The demon, which the Gerudo had been calling 'Death Sword', does have a body. But it places it between the material and spectral realms. It's impossible to destroy."

"That's more than enough for me!" Link announced as she shifted into her wolf form and shifted her senses.

Sure enough, there was a tall shadow wielding the blade.

As a wolf, Link leapt onto the shadow and bit into it. It was enough to bring the demon's body out of the spectral realm and into the material realm, no longer a shadowy wraith. It was at least eight feet and was dressed in a long, dark robe. It gave an unholy shriek as it exposed its head to the new heroes, which looked similar to a ram's skull with demonic-looking horns and red lights shining in its eye sockets. This was the face of the demon that killed those Gerudo years ago.

"What in the hell?" Shadow whispered as the demon realized it was exposed to harm.

He (the demon) turned its gaze to Naboona and recognized her. It lunged at her while shrieking.

"YOU~!"

The demon vanished just as it reached Naboona before anyone could do anything. The sword was still in plain sight, only without an owner. Cautious, Link approached Naboona, who had doubled over, panting heavily.

"Naboona?"

Several seconds of silence later, Naboona lifted her head quickly, revealing a monstrous version of her face. This caused Link to jump back with a small scream as the men saw what it was that made her scream in the first place.

The earthly tan that Naboona had possessed faded into a pale black. Her smooth red hair, though tied in a ponytail, was matted and frizzy, as if she had gone through a high voltage shock. Her golden eyes became blood red with violet irises, reflecting the urge to kill. She then gave out a loud shriek.

"DIE!"

She then grabbed the gigantic sword and charged at the heroes.

Naboona, chief of the Gerudo tribe, was possessed by a demon.

Dodging Naboona's sword, the heroes called out to each other.

"She's possessed by that thing!" Sonic called out.

"Damn it!" Shadow cursed.

"Look out!" Link cried as she and the other dodge another of Naboona's blows. "We have to get that thing out of her!"

Jumping backwards a distance, Naboona then raised her sword in the air, causing an electrified shadowy sphere to appear. Sonic and Link were able to jump out of the way, but Shadow stood his ground. Naboona then swung her sword, releasing the energy ball at Shadow.

"Shadow!" Sonic and Link called out.

Just then, Shadow swung his sword at the last possible moment and struck the sphere back at Naboona, who received the damage. Surprisingly, this was enough to kick the demon out of the Cheiftess' body long enough for Sonic to realize it and use his speed to rescue Naboona before Shadow continued the fight. Examining Naboona, whose body returned to her normal state, Link spoke.

"She's going to be fine."

She then looked to the scene in front of them.

"But what about Shadow?"

Unbeknownst to the two remaining heroes and Naboona, Shadow recognized the energy as Chaos Emerald energy. Even though it was faint at first, Shadow felt the power grow as the fight went on. With this demon draining him of his natural energy, Shadow began to wonder if he could perform a move he could do _without_ the aid of a Chaos Emerald.

"I hope this works."Shadow grunted as he jumped back and cast his sword aside.

Link immediately thought Shadow had gone mad, but Sonic realized what he was going to do and heeded Link.

"Link! Get behind one of those columns! Now!"

Link heeded as Shadow focused the energy around him, causing him to glow red. He achieved enough power as the demon attempted to attack once more. Shadow then spread out his arms and shouted as a red blast came from his body into a sphere and threw it at the demon like a ball.

"This is from I, the _Ultimate_ Life Form! CHAOS BLAST!"

The raw energy that Shadow made struck the demon before it realized what Shadow had done. The energy struck him like a large stone, but its main purpose was to do internal damage. This was evident as the demon writhed in pain before it arched its back and gave out a final, blood-curdling shriek as the energy exploded with full force inside it, killing it instantly, leaving its sword behind.

Link, having watched what happened from her pillar, breathed out a sigh of shock.

"By the Goddesses…"

Sonic, on the other hand, scoffed.

"Show off."

But due to not having done a Chaos Blast in a long time, Shadow collapsed onto his stomach from exhaustion as the torches that circled the room were magically lit, indicating that all was well.

Leaving their hiding spot, Sonic, who was carrying Naboona, and Link approached the fallen form of their comrade. Link turned him onto his back as Shadow continued to rest.

"What in the name of the Goddesses happened?"

Link turned to Sonic, knowing that he would have an answer. Knowing that he wasn't going to get away from this, Sonic sighed in defeat and set Naboona down next to Shadow.

"There's something about Shadow we haven't told you about yet. We didn't think he could use that power in this world." He then gulped, hoping that he wouldn't invoke Link's wrath again like what Shadow did back at the Sacred Grove.

"Shadow…wasn't born. He was…created."

This caused Link to raise an eyebrow.

"Created? How?"

After seeing a closed off section of the chamber open up, Sonic heeded Link to follow as he explained the best he could, knowing that Hyrule wasn't at the scientific point to understand the functions of genetics.

"Shadow…was born from the blood of a monster. A monster who wanted to use him to destroy our world. But Shadow was also born with a free will and instead of complying, he ultimately challenged and defeated that monster, choosing to follow his own path and saving our world instead."

"But what's with the 'Ultimate Life Form' title?" Link asked curiously. "That's what the monster created him to be. The Ultimate Life Form. It's more than just a title. It's a description of Shadow's power." Sonic explained, unsure if he was helping Shadow or not.

"And what about that sphere he shot back at the demon?" Link asked. Sonic couldn't help but chuckle at Link's curiosity.

"You seem just like a little kid with all of these questions. It's cute."

Link blushed at the sentence before Sonic realized what he said and cleared his throat as he and Link approached a treasure chest at the end of the second half of the room.

"Anyway, that 'spell' we'll call it is one of Shadow's abilities as the Ultimate Life Form. But he can only do it with a Chaos Emerald in his hand, which makes what happened strange."

Remembering about how the first three emeralds were found, Link spoke.

"You think there's a Chaos Emerald in this decrepit place?"

Sonic shrugged his shoulders.

"Probably. We've noticed that there's a pattern going on, so we might find them as we continue this quest. I'm just wondering how the emerald's power could've been amplified to reach Shadow."

It was Link's turn to shrug her shoulders.

"I guess we'll see when we enter the Mirror Chamber."

Sonic agreed to that as he opened the chest. Inside were three spinning top-like object large enough for a person to stand on one of them. Picking one up, Sonic spoke.

"What are these?"

Link picked up one of the objects and examined it.

"Maybe these things are the Spinners that Naboona spoke about before. But we'll have to confirm it with Naboona when she wakes up."

* * *

**Two Hours Later…**

After two hours of rest, Shadow and Naboona finally woke up. Sonic explained to Shadow on how he explained the latter's origin to Link, which Shadow was grateful for. Naboona confirmed that the items Link and Sonic found were the Spinners that were needed to access the Mirror Chamber. After handing Shadow his Spinner and some practice riding on them, the quartet continued to venture further into the prison. But just before the left, Shadow took the Death Sword's sword, now shrunk to fit Shadow's needs, and kept it as a new weapon (And to an extent, a trophy.)

Thanks to Naboona, navigating back to the gear chamber was easy. Especially since the Spinners used the indents they had been seeing lately to carry their passengers around. They even helped keep the four from sinking into sinking sand with longer distances, though they slowed down after a certain amount of time unless the connected with a line of indents.

Remembering what Naboona had told them, the three heroes used the Spinners on the indented gears at the second main chamber and synchronized in spinning them. The reaction was the half wall moving out of the way and exposing the remainder of the chamber. With Naboona on his, Shadow rode his Spinner after Link and Sonic and up a coil of indents to the top floor, where a giant door with a huge lock greeted them.

"This leads to the Council Chamber, where they carried out trials back in the day. There is a flight of stairs that leads to the Mirror Chamber." Naboona spoke.

Pulling out and inserting a large key they found on their way back to the chamber below, our heroes unlocked the giant lock and opened the door, ready for any fight that would come.

Once inside, the heroes and the Cheiftess shifted their gazes around the chamber. It was the largest chamber they had encountered yet. There was, what seemed to be, a bowl of sand taking up most of the center of the chamber. As they walked forward to the edge of the stone floor, the four were greeted by the sight of the skeleton of a giant monster. It's lower body was nowhere to be found, as the sand converted that much. It had two sets of horns protruding from its head, as well as two spears in its skull. The coloring of the skeleton told them that this thing had been dead for ages. But when you venture into a place that is mostly complied of undead monsters, you can't be too careful.

But just as it looked like they could continue to Mirror Chamber with ease, Zant suddenly appeared on the skull. Naboona looked at the stranger, then at her companions. Judging by their stances, this man was an enemy. It was made clear as Zant spoke to the three heroes.

"You still live…How astonishing. Now wonder some call you three 'heroes.' But this is a truly a bittersweet reunion… Truly! For I fear this is the last time I will see you three alive!"

Zant then looked up to Naboona, who had drawn her sword should he attack.

"As for you, Chief of the Gerudo Tribe. I heard what happened from my subordinate, Aquila. As irritating as she is, I simply cannot abide you and your tribe joining forces with these insects. After you and your companions are dead, I shall exterminate the Gerudo!"

This revelation shocked the group, particularly Naboona. But before any of them could react, Zant held out his hand and formed a red sphere, which in turn turned into a dark sword. Though the group anticipated Zant to use it on them, he instead impaled it into the skull of the deceased monster before them before he vanished. As the four were beginning to wonder what just happened, a rumbling alerted them to the skeleton.

"What did that bastard do?" Shadow hissed.

His answer came as a red light began to glow in the skull's eye sockets. Magic torches lit the room as the pile of bones came to life and roared. It then panted a little before roaring at the four, the mysterious voice telling the three heroes what this creature was.

"**Twilit Fossil: Stallord."**

Now given a name, the pile of bones known as Stallord began to attack, starting with a fiery breath in order to incinerate our heroes. But the group, seeing some indents around the ring of the 'bowl' of sand, quickly got out their Spinners and got away from Stallord before he could breathe his fire, with Naboona on Sonic's Spinner this time.

"Find a weakness!" Shadow called, not willing to use another strained Chaos Blast like what he did with Death Sword.

In an attempt that was not to impress Link for once, Sonic examined the bones from afar spotted the weakness.

"Its spine! Go for its spine!"

Hearing Sonic, Link made the attempt to use her Spinner as a mobile battering ram and jumped off the indents. But as her Spinner touched sand, corpses started to rise, blocking Link from the spinal cord. Link managed to dodge the corpses in time as she hit the spine, though her speed had slowed a bit.

None the less, the brittle section of spine broke, harming Stallord a bit. As Link made her way back up to the indents on foot, Sonic and Shadow distracted Stallord while Naboona aided Link.

"We need to watch out for those corpses! That thing knows what we're trying to do!"

Naboona nodded as Link left on her Spinner to pick up speed. The Cheiftess relayed the message to the boys when they came her way.

Understanding, Sonic shouted.

"One of us will be the decoy while the other helps the hitter with the corpses!"

Shadow agreed and took the reign in making a path for Link to use to hit Stallord a second time. Then, he and Sonic switched places and aided Link in shattering the last of the spinal cord, causing Stallord to collapse. Its body became dust, leaving the skull behind as the sand started to drain, revealing a large stone floor with a gear in the center. Naboona, not having a Spinner of her own, waited on the stone walkway as the three heroes rode the sand down to the floor.

Finding no way up, Sonic volunteered to use his Spinner to raise the floor into a column until they were level with the entrance and exit, where Naboona was. She waved at them, letting them know that the Mirror Chamber was her way. But just as she did, she saw something that made her pale.

"Behind you!" She called.

The three heroes heeded and turned to find that Stallord's skull was still filled with life, floating without a body.

The skull then charged at the heroes before they could react, causing them to fall into the sand below. Ignoring Naboona, Stallord floated downward toward its prey. Of course, the trio was conscious and once they saw that the column had indents, they immediately got out their Spinners and rode on.

"We can't do anything unless we take out that sword!" Shadow announced as they saw that they were coming out towards Stallord.

But the skull wouldn't be as easy as its body was. It made itself clear as it tried to fire fireballs at the three heroes. Thankfully, the opposite wall also had the indents and they were able to leap to the wall and maintain their speed until they were next to the skull. Then, out of intuition, Sonic jumped from the wall and the pointed end of the Spinner landed on top of the skull, causing it to fall to the ground.

"Now, Link!"

Without another word, Link leapt off her Spinner and used her Master Sword on the dark blade. Once swipe of the pure blade was able to knock the corrupt one out of the skull. With its power supply cut, the skull gave a loud roar as it flew upwards until it nearly hit the high ceiling. It then fell to the ground, with the three heroes on top of the pillar and out of the way as the skull shattered into thousands of pieces.

The sword that Zant created impaled onto the ground, but not fade. Instead, it changed from a Twili-looking sword to a sword that could nearly rival the beauty of the Master Sword. It was still in the same shape as it was created, only the blade was thinner and white, while the hilt was blue and had the appearance of a real bird's wings. It had an emerald in the center just as the Master Sword had that golden diamond imbedded in its own hilt.

Curious, Shadow removed the sword he brought from the fight with Death Sword and held it out.

"Link. Can you strike this sword, next?"

Not having a clue on why, Link obeyed and struck the sword once with her Master Sword. Like the sword that brought Stallord to life, this sword changed.

It had become a far more elegant blade, but unlike Sonic's new sword and the Master Sword, the blade was midnight black. The hilt, along with the engravings along the blade, were blood red. The hilt was in the form of demon wings. But despite the demonic appearance, the blade emitted a pure power.

The trio began to wonder about the new blades as a stone bridge appeared and connected the column to the doorway they needed to pass through. As they crossed the bridge, they were met with Naboona. She was glad that they survived victorious and that they had neared the Mirror Chamber at last, she still had a fearful expression on her face.

"I am glad you are safe, my friends. But I need to leave. If what Zant said was true, I need to move out my tribe to a safer place until that monster is defeated. Therefore, I must part immediately."

The heroes understood and Sonic spoke.

"Go on. We can find the Mirror of Twilight on our own."

Naboona smiled and bowed. But before she left she spoke.

"Oh! Before I forget. After we are out of Zant's sights, I and several of my officers will meet you that that bar you told us about. And thank you again…for everything."

And like that, Naboona was gone.

* * *

**Minutes Later…**

After Naboona left, the trio made their way to the Mirror Chamber, which was within the coliseum of the prison. Upon entering, they found a statue of a sand goddess with the same coiled indents that took them to the Council Chamber. With a nod, and the defeat of some Twilit Messengers and granting them a new warping portal, Sonic, Link, and Shadow used their Spinners to make their way to the top of the sand goddess, where three gears were waiting for them.

As they used their Spinners on the gears, the trio of heroes watched as the six pillars that overlook the coliseum began to rise, pulling chains that were attached to them. As this happened, the sand goddess statue began to lower into the sand as a giant block of black marble rose with the chains. And that was not all. An alter rose from the sand as the sand goddess finished sinking into the sand. And what they saw devastated them.

On the alter was a large mirror, or at least what looked like a large mirror, on a half-frame. But there was something wrong. Midna, leaving Link's shadow, took a closer look at the jagged piece of glass that remained on the frame and gasped.

The Mirror of Twilight…was cracked.

The four froze in shock and despair.

"I…I don't believe it." Sonic whispered.

"All of that. And for what? A shattered piece of glass?" Shadow growled in anger.

Link just covered her mouth with her hands, holding back her tears. Their only link to Zant and the real Twilight Realm was destroyed.

_"No… It can't be… Goddesses… Please don't let this mean…"_

Just then, several lights caught their eyes. As the heroes looked up, they saw five men of light, dressed in odd robes, looking down at them. The four travelers froze as the beings spoke in wise, aged voices.

"A dark entity lurks in the twilight… It houses an evil power…"

Then once being spoke to the heroes.

"You three who are guided by fate… You who possess the crest and weapons of the goddesses… Hear us…"

Then another being spoke.

"At the command of the goddesses, we sages have guarded the Mirror of Twilight since ancient times."

The third sage then spoke.

"You seek it…but the Mirror of Twilight has been fragmented by mighty magic."

Then the fourth sage spoke.

"That magic is a dark power that only **he** possesses…"

The four travelers immediately thought they were talking about Zant until the last sage answered.

"His name is…**Ganondorf."**

Suddenly, Shadow's Violin of Visions presented them with a vision, courtesy of the sages' memories. The sages continued to speak as the sound of flames caught the travelers' attention.

"He was once the leader of the Gerudo you now allied yourselves with. With them, he invaded Hyrule in hopes of establishing dominion over the Sacred Realm."

A field in flames came into the vision as a large figure on a strong horse appeared as a silhouette.

"He was known as a demon thief, an evil-magic wielder renowned for his ruthlessness…"

As they got closer to the shadow, a sudden fear began to well up inside the heroes. Especially Shadow, for the shadow's eyes matched that of those he saw in his first vision.

"No… It can't be…"

The sages continued.

"But he was blind… In all of his fury and might, he was blind to any danger, and thus he was exposed, subdued, and brought to justice by none other than the Hero of Time. He left his punishment to us as he did all he could."

The vision then showed Ganondorf chained to the black marble at the Arbiter's Grounds. It was with the light of this vision that the four were able to see what he looked like.

Dressed in black armor and red cloth, Ganondorf appeared as a strong-looking man with dark skin and demonic red hair and beard that was a trait of the Gerudo with a sort of headdress in it. Remembering what Naboona had told them, the four figured that Ganondorf was Gerudo-born and thus, that era's king. His gold and red eyes, filled with the darkest of evil, pierced what bravery the three heroes had.

It was then that one of the sages, the missing sixth in real life, used some sort of telekinesis to lift a sword and stabbed the King of Evil in the stomach. But just as it seemed that justice had been served, they noticed his right hand twitching.

"Yet…"

It was the heroes saw it. On the back of Ganondorf's right hand appeared the symbol of the Triforce, just like Link and Zelda, only the solid triangle was at the top of the other two.

Giving off a slight laugh, Ganondorf moved freely, as if the blade was nothing more than a needle. This concerned not only the sages of the past, but the heroes of the present as Ganondorf broke free of his chains and showed his mark to the sages, taunting them in a way.

"By some divine prank, he, too, had been blessed with the chosen power of the gods."

Ganondorf then pulled on the remaining chain on his left wrist until it broke. He then lunged at one of the sages, destroying him.

Then, Ganondorf laughed, pulling the sword he was impaled with from his torso. The sages, in fear, turned to a complete Mirror of Twilight, raised their arms, and activated it. The heroes watched in amazement as the symbols and circles on the mirror shone out and appeared on the black marble. They then could see the circle in the marble pressing inward, indicating the connection has been made.

Ganondorf struggled to escape, but unfortunately for him, the power of the Mirror of Twilight disintegrated him, his pieces flowing into the Twilight Realm like dust or ash. It was then that the remaining sages, now safe, took the time to morn their fallen brethren before the vision faded back into the present and the Violin of Visions returned to Shadow.

The sages continued onward, still having more to tell. "His abiding hatred and lust for power turned into pure malice…"

"Perhaps that evil power has been passed on to Zant…"

Midna, sitting on the frame with the remaining piece of the mirror, spoke bitterly.

"You're just now figuring where Zant got his power? It's far too late…"

But another sage spoke differently.

"Only the true leader of the Twili can utterly destroy the Mirror of Twilight…so Zant could merely break it into pieces. Once broken by magic, the Mirror of Twilight became fragments, which even now lie hidden across the land of Hyrule."

This caught the attention of the imp and the three heroes. Taking a step forward, Link spoke.

"Please. Tell us where these fragments are."

The sages complied and gave their answer one by one as they gave direction.

"One is in the snowy mountain heights…"

"One is in an ancient grove…"

"And one is in the heavens…"

They then turned to the four on the ground.

"You three who have been sent by the goddesses… You should be able to gather the three pieces… But you must be prepared, for a dangerous power resides in those fragments…"

The sages then looked toward the two men.

"You who are brought from another world by the hands of the goddesses… You know of the consequences should those who rule the darkness succeed… Zant has stolen from you three powerful gems. Gems that may return you to your own domain…"

It was then that the sages summoned something in a blinding light. When the light dimmed, the golden Chaos Emerald was revealed to them.

"We had sensed that you needed this power defeat the owner of the sword the Keeper of the Violin of Visions carries… We had used as much of our strength as we could to send you as much power s you needed… Now, it is your reward for coming this far…"

Shadow took the emerald and placed it in his pouch, promising to make sure he wouldn't lose it to the likes of Zant. The sages spoke one last time before fading into the night.

"Upon your arrival, this gem and three others arrived here just before Zant came to shatter the Mirror of Twilight… When the mirror shattered, a piece took a gem with them… Find the fragments, find the gems…"

The four travelers looked at each other and nodded, agreeing to the quest.

But something bugged Shadow. Ganondorf. There was no doubt about it. It was his eyes he saw in the first vision. As they walked off to see to the Gerudo's departure, Shadow stayed behind to speak to himself a bit.

"There is no doubt about it. Zant's a puppet in this damned chaos. And Ganondorf is the puppet master behind all of this."

He then gulped as he sweated with fear.

"After we stop Zant, we must find…and destroy Ganondorf...before he destroys us."

* * *

_Happy Holidays. :)_


	21. Secret in the Shadow Temple

**Chapter 21**

**Secret in the Temple of Shadows**

_Happy New Year, everyone. _

_Thanks to Yoshevil, I have a new song and a new idea for this fic. The new song is based off the Super Mario Galaxy song, **Waltz of the Boos.** I thank you, Yoshevil, for helping me. 3_

_The names of the swords I created with the aid of Google Translater._

_I do not own the song, the Legend of Zelda, or Sonic the Hedgehog._

* * *

Dawn touched the Gerudo Fortress the day after the events in the Arbiter's Grounds and our heroes are enjoying a well-deserved rest. After discovering the fate of the Mirror of Twilight and the story of Ganondorf, Midna and the three heroes decided to return to the Gerudo Fortress for some shut-eye before returning to Hyrule. The fortress had been abandoned around an hour after Naboona left them with the Mirror Chamber after defeating Stallord and ordered the Gerudo to evacuate because of Zant's threat. So it was hardly a surprise that they four found the place empty.

Sonic was the first to wake up in the near-empty fortress and stretched in his bed. After he did he changed his bandages and refreshed the ointment that the Gerudo left behind purposely to treat his and his friends' wounds. After his bandages were changed and washed himself in the bathing chamber, Sonic got dressed and looked at the new sword he had acquired.

Before the four of the company retreated to their rooms for the night, Sonic decided to call his sword '_Ventus Guardianus'_ or 'Wind Guardian,' while Shadow named his sword '_Sanguis Daemonis' _or 'Blood of the Demon'. After placing _Ventus Guardianus_ in a custom-made scabbard, also left behind by the Gerudo as aid, Sonic decided to do a walkabout while his comrades remain asleep. Sonic's room was closer to the entrance of the fortress, while Shadow's room was near the dungeon and armory whereas Link was in the room she stayed in during her masquerade as 'Zelda the Gerudo' for a sense of familiarity.

As he strolled down the halls, Sonic began to plan his courtship with Link. Unfortunately for him and Shadow, the Hylian was so focus on saving her homeland that she was completely oblivious to his and Shadow's vying affections. Seriousness, he knew, was one of her traits that Shadow liked about her. However, Sonic preferred not only her beauty, but her courage and nurturing nature most of all. She was a devoted friend and had perfect subconscious qualities of her being quite the mother-figure.

Her obliviousness was a major obstacle in his quest to pursue her heart. Shadow, he thought, he could handle. But he needed her to be aware of his feelings toward her and he was not ready to say the three most important words in his life to her yet. So how was that it going to happen?

Sonic then pulled himself out of his thoughts as he found himself in front of the door that led to the interior of Link's room. Deciding against his better judgment, Sonic quietly entered the silent room. The sunlight had not awakened Link yet, so he was gifted with the sight of her sleeping form. She was wearing the nightgown she wore back in Kakariko and her torso was covered with a light sheet that showed the shape of her body. Without the jewels from her Gerudo guise and the hat from her hero's outfit, Link's short blond hair was exposed to the elements. Her wolfish eyes closed as she dreamed sweet dreams.

The blue-haired man's heart began to beat as he slowly stepped further into the room. His mind was screaming at him to stop and go somewhere else, but an unknown force was pushing him gently towards the sleeping heroine. As soon as he was next to her bed, Sonic raised his hand and gently turned Link's head so that she was facing the ceiling. Slowly, his mind became blank as he eyed her soft-looking lips. He had only grazed Link's lips with his back at Lake Hylia and he was on the verge of obtaining the perfect kiss when the Bublin King reappeared, frustrating him.

Now, he was all alone with her, for Midna decided to stay in Shadow's shadow for a while. The only thing that would louse it up was for the sleeping beauty to wake up. Swallowing his nerves, Sonic braced himself and took the plunge. The kiss was gentle, so as not to wake Link in a panic. But to Sonic, the very touch of Link's lips against his was euphoria. Her lips felt like silken flower petals with the taste of roses touching the tip of his tongue. They remained like that for a few minutes before Sonic forced himself to leave her soft lips and sneaking out of Link's room before she could wake, unaware that he had made whatever Link was dreaming about a better dream.

Sonic did felt a bit guilty for stealing a kiss from the sleeping heroine, but that still didn't stop him from treasuring the feeling. He hoped that he would continue to experience the feeling in the future, preferably on Link's own free will. To preoccupy his mind, the blue hero went down to the mess hall and began to pack up supplies.

But as he did, he thought to himself, "We've defiantly been around thieves too long. That's it."

As he thought that, he was soon joined by Shadow and Midna, leaving Link in her own bedroom.

When she finally joined up with them, Link was dressed in her hero's garb, not a trace of Gerudo visible. After they feasted on bread, some cheese, and some water, the group began to discuss the plans.

"So where should we begin? All we have to go on are those three clues that the sages left us, but no way to find a way to begin." Sonic spoke.

"What about Telma's? There's no better place to look up information than a bar." Shadow half-joked, which was unusual to hear.

But after some thought on her part, Link's eyes widened.

"Actually, Shadow, that's not a bad idea."

The men and Midna looked at her with questions in their eyes as Link answered them.

"Have you forgotten about Rusl, Auru, Shad, and Ashei? Maybe one of them might know something about the places we were told. I mean, it was Auru that lead Midna and me to the desert after all."

Upon hearing Link's logic, the trio realized that since those four people were part of Telma's underground, maybe they know more of the lay of the land than they did. After taking a bite of bread, Sonic spoke.

"It looks like I'll have to take back my question for now. What about you, Shadow?"

After drinking some water, Shadow spoke.

"What I had said was originally intended to be a joke. But I guess that sometimes the stalest of joke can light a path to victory."

Link could not help but chuckle at Shadow's statement.

"Very true, Shadow. Very true. From now on, I'll have to keep a better ear on your suggestions. Even if they lack personality."

Sonic couldn't help but fall back on his chair, laughing, as Shadow furrowed his eyebrows at the laughing man. But he did manage a smirk to himself.

At least Link praised him for the idea.

* * *

**An Hour Later…**

It was an hour after the company left the Gerudo desert and are now facing a tunnel that lead to someplace outside Zora's Domain. After putting their affairs in order, the group teleported to the gates of Castle Town and entered Telma's bar. The barmaid and the three men of her little band gathering around to greet them after being gone for a few days. And that wasn't the only surprise.

Just as she said, Naboona was at the bar waiting for them. She had explained what has happened at the Arbiter's Grounds to the little band and allowed her tribe to join the group, increasing its numbers. Needless to say, Auru was very astonished at how such a blood-thirsty band of thieves banding with their cause and Ashei and Telma were grateful to have more women around the bar.

Speaking of Ashei, when the trio arrived, Midna in Link's shadow, the armor-clad woman wasn't there to greet them. After talking to Rusl, the three (or four if you count Midna) learned that Ashei was investigating something strange at Zora's Domain, at the base of the mountain range she spoke of when they first met her: Snowpeak. Apparently, there had been sightings of a strange creature coming from the mountain late and it concerned Ashei enough for her to leave to the domain.

So after teleporting to Zora's Domain, the group was led by the Zoras to an exposed cavern that had originally been covered when the domain was under ice. After thanking the Zoras, the trio entered the cavern, only to have met with a freezing wind. Keeping close together for warmth, our heroes walked out of the tunnel and were faced with a snowy landscape covered in a thick blizzard. And in front of them was a human-sized white beast looking out.

The creature then turned and before any of the heroes could do anything, the creature spoke.

"Link. Sonic. Shadow."

Then, the creature removed its head, revealing to be none other than Ashei. The warrior woman spoke again.

"What brings the three of you to a dangerous place like this?"

"We heard that you were investigating this region. Something strange was happening?" Sonic spoke.

Ashei nodded.

"Ever since Zora's Domain got covered in ice, this mountain's been much colder than usual, yeah?"

The trio gave Ashei a look that said. 'You mean this place was warmer?' as she continued.

"Not only that, but I heard a really weird story from the Zoras. Apparently, the beast that lives somewhere on this mountain has been seen frequently in Zora's Domain. I was curious, so I came and waited…and as they said, a giant appeared!"

This surprised the trio.

"A GIANT?"

Ashei nodded and held out a piece of paper with a drawing on it.

"Yeah, it looked like this."

The trio could see that this drawing was made in haste, as little detail was shown or visible. But there was one thing that stood out: a red fish.

"Apparently, this thing's been stealing red fish from the village. I want to investigate further…but I can't even see the path through this blizzard, yeah?"

The little band looked out to the blizzard as Ashei spoke.

"I'm sure you're here because you're curious about the mountain, but you'd best not go without a plan. Much less without thick coats by the way the three of you are shivering. Best if the three of you go back to the Zora's Domain and warm up, yeah?"

Needless to say, the trio agreed hastily and hurried back to the domain, taking Ashei's picture with them.

Once they were back at the domain and allowed their bodies to adjust to the right temperature, the three began to talk about a new plan.

"Ok. What are the chances that the Mirror Shard and the Chaos Emerald are on Snowpeak?" Sonic asked.

"The sages did say 'one is in the snowy mountain heights.' What other place could there be other than on an icy mountain?"

"And you think this snow giant might have them?" Sonic asked.

"Whatever it is, it's the only lead we have. Now. Let's see if we can learn more about this fish."

The men looked at Link with inquiring eyes as Sonic spoke.

"The fish? Why the fish? Aren't we looking for a snow giant, which shouldn't be too hard to find."

"I have to agree with the Blue Blunder here. The giant should be our main concern, not the fish."

Link rolled her eyes as she answered their questions.

"Because~… It's going to be extremely hard to track a snow giant through that blizzard. But if I can find out about this fish and catch one, than I can use my wolf form to memorize the scent..."

"And we can follow the scent up the trail without problems!" Sonic realized, understanding the logic.

"Then let's ask around and see what the Zoras know about the fish." Shadow added in.

The three split up and began to ask about the fish. Sonic spoke with the Zoras on the shore, since water still freaked him out. Shadow, after donning his Zora Bands, spoke to the Zoras in the water. And Link asked the Zoras in the throne room. Not one of them had any luck until Link spoke to one Zora mother.

"Do you know anything about the fish this creature is holding?"

The Zora looked and nodded.

"Yes. This is a very particular fish. I do not know the name, but I know what it eats."

Link was relieved to hear this as the Zora spoke.

"This fish eats a special coral that only members of our royal family know about. But, I'm afraid that the only one who can tell you more about the coral is…Prince Ralis. And none of us know where he is."

Link's eyes widen at the name. The Zora boy that she and the others had saved was the only one who would know more about this fish and what bait to use than anyone else. Thanking the Zora, Link returned to the entrance to the mountains where she and the others would rendezvous and give their results.

* * *

After she told them what she had learned, the others agreed that they should return to Kakariko to check on the prince and ask them about the fish. But before they do, they decided to return to purchase their winter cloaks and freshen their supplies. After they did that, they made it to Kakariko by the time the dusk came. Sonic decided to check on the kids while Shadow spoke to Renado to give an update on their progress, while Link headed to the graveyard, suspecting that if Ralis was awake, he would be respecting his parents.

After Link crept through the hole that led to the Zora gravesite, her suspicions were proven correct as she caught sight of the young Zora in front of the royal grave. After coming ashore at the other side of the site, Link cleared her throat, gaining the attention of the prince.

"Excuse me. Prince Ralis?"

The boy turned around and was surprised at the woman before him before he managed to speak.

"Is…is your name Link?"

Link nodded, wondering who could've told him about her name.

"Yes, Your Highness. May I ask, how do you know my name?"

The prince answered, looking to the side with some sadness in his eyes.

"My mother came to me in a dream… She showed me your image with that of two foreign men. She spoke of three youths who would save our domain and steer my fate. One named Link, one named Sonic, and one named Shadow."

Link realized that the late Rutela was the one who told the prince her name and answered truthfully.

"I believe your mother was right. The domain is thawed out and life is returning to normal."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Ralis spoke.

"I must thank you for all you've done. If there is anything I can ever do for you, please tell me."

It was the opportunity Link was hoping for and she took out Ashei's picture and showed it to the prince.

"Actually, there is one thing. Do you know the image of this picture?"

The prince took a look at the image and was surprised.

"Hmm…The beast-man of the snowy mountain…perhaps?"

Link nodded before she spoke.

"Do you know of the fish that it's carrying? My companions and I are searching for something in the mountains and we think this creature can help. But in order to find the creature, we need to know of the fish it has in its hand."

Ralis immediately answered her.

"It must be a reekfish. That is a rare specimen found only in the Zora village. It feeds on a valuable type of coral, and without that bait, even our best fishers cannot catch one."

He then held out two beautiful coiled objects and showed them to Link.

"Look closely, Link. My earrings are made of this coral. I would like to give them to you."

Link was flattered at this truthfully, but she wondered why the prince would have them. He shortly gave an answer to her silent question.

"I received them from my mother. But it is fine. I no longer need them."

He then looked to the grave and spoke on.

"As I look at you, I get a sense of what my mother wanted, what I should be doing right now."

This reminded Link of the message that Rutela wanted her to tell him.

"Young prince. Before I forget, I have a message from your mother, the queen."

Ralis listened intently as Link relayed the message.

"She wanted us to tell you not to grieve at her passing. Be brave and live on as the king of the Zoras. And that she loves you without end. Those were her exact words."

Ralis remained silent for a while, gazing sadly at his parents' grave. Afterwards, he looked to Link.

"I will return to my village. I will take my mother's words to heart. As for the reekfish, it can be found near the Mother-and-Child Rocks in the waterfall basin near my village. The fish are red, so I think you and your friends should be able to spot them. And if they are hiding, use the earrings I gave you like fishing hooks. They will always succeed in luring them out."

After thanking the prince, Link returned to the village while Ralis took the graveyard's waterway back to Zora's Domain. The kids happily greeted Link and Beth was disappointed when she learned that Ralis left without saying goodbye, causing Link to suspect that the young Ordanian developed a crush on the young prince, making the heroine silently snicker in amusement.

* * *

But before she could go to bed, Link decided to get the reekfish's scent before coming back to rest, leaving Sonic and Shadow behind. While Sonic amused the kids to sleep with the stories of their travels, Shadow headed to the graveyard and took a seat on one of the steps that led to the Zora gravesite. Having heard that Ralis had recovered and received the message Rutela left them thanks to Link, Shadow was in truth, now at ease that the boy was alright. Instead of seeking vengeance like what Shadow did, Ralis decided to move on and take on the responsibilities of being the new Zora king.

"That kid is going to become a strong king, I can tell. If only I had remembered the rest of Maria's words earlier, then maybe I would've done the same as him."

But as he thought to himself, a shadow caught Shadow's eye. Drawing _Sanguis Daemonis _from his pouch, Shadow silently followed the shadow to one of the graveyard's natural walls. But something happened that caused Shadow to become apprehensive even more. A section of the western wall vanished and at the other side was a massive black temple that appeared to be carved from the rock itself. The entrance reminded Shadow of the acropolis in Athens, Greece, and despite the test of time, the place was still in great shape. Over the entrance was a tear-dripping eye, the same symbol that was on the back of Princess Zelda's cloak when he and his companions first met her.

A feeling came over Shadow as he followed the shadow into the temple. It wasn't an unwary feeling, but more of a familiar spiritual feeling, which was odd for he had never been to this place before. He continued to walk into the temple until he found himself in front of a statue of a woman. Judging from her appearance, she appeared to be a ninja of sorts. But did Hyrule even have ninjas? Shadow then received his answer as a voice spoke.

"Welcome, Shadow the Hedgehog, to the Shadow Temple."

Shadow held _Sanguis Daemonis_ close at the sound of the voice.

"Please sheath your weapon, Shadow. I am not your enemy."

"Then tell me who you are and why was I led here." Shadow demanded.

It was then the shadow before him changed appearance until it looked like the woman from the statue.

"I am Impa, the Sage of Shadows and the founder of Kakariko Village. I was the one who lead you here, he who bears the name of the shadows."

Carefully sheathing his weapon, Shadow spoke.

"Why have you led me here?"

Impa answered him.

"I am well aware of the quest you are on and your anxiety concerning Ganondorf. You have every right to be afraid of him, but you are wise enough to know that that you are not powerful enough yet should you face him too early."

This caused Shadow's eyes to widen.

"Ganondorf…is still alive?"

Impa nodded.

"He thrives in Hyrule Castle and is the one that is causing this chaos. He is the one responsible for Zant's power. And even if you do defeat the King of Shadows, you still need to defeat the King of Evil for your quest to be complete."

The feeling of fear returned to Shadow as he asked Impa a question.

"Why are you telling me this? Why not Link and Sonic, too?"

Impa answered him.

"It is because you are part-Sheikah, Shadow, and a member of my bloodline."

Shadow rubbed his ears and eyes as he heard this. Part Sheikah? What in the world was she talking about? Impa, seeing the confusion on his face, answered his question.

"It was by the hand of the goddess, Din, that my family's blood came to your world when you were conceived. She has chosen to create her champion while Nayru and Farore chose their champions upon their birth. It is with the blood of the Sage of Shadows that your personal power is amplified and is the reason why you were able to play the Violin of Visions. It is also the reason why you were born with your red eyes."

"But why would the Violin of Visions choose someone who had demonic blood than one of Hylian blood?" Shadow asked, still in disbelief.

"The Violin of Visions is the polar opposite of the Ocarina of Time. For while the ocarina taps into the powers of light, the violin taps into the power of shadow. And only a Sheikah can come so close to the shadows without becoming corrupted by absolute darkness. But only a handful of Sheikah remain and those whose duty is to serve the royal family of Hyrule, like they should, have vanished. So the legacy of our tribe rests in your hands."

It was then that Impa held out her hands and a small sphere of shadows formed in her hands.

"I have brought you here not only to warn you of Ganondorf's return, but to awaken your Sheikah gifts and teach you another song that can only be performed by the Violin of Visions."

Compelled, Shadow held out his hand and allowed Impa to place the sphere of shadows into his hand. The sphere then dissolved and a violet medallion with an image of an upside-down triangle with a circle at each of the flat edges of the shape.

"I had given this Shadow Medallion to the Hero of Time in his quest to defeat Ganondorf. It aided in lending him my power in order to access the King of Evil's palace. Now I pass it on to you. When you carry this medallion, you will subconsciously learn the ways of the Shadow Folk as well as magic that has been passed on from the first generation of Sheikah. You will find yourself more agile than you ever knew and will soon possess skills that you had not obtained before. Take it with my blessing as the Sage of Shadows."

As Shadow placed the medallion in his pouch, Impa spoke again.

"The song that I am about to teach you can only be learned by those of the bloodline of the Sage of Shadows. By playing this song, you can call in reinforcements from the world beyond should you and your companions find yourselves outnumbered or in need of one who can trip traps before you even reach them. This is the **'Waltz of the Poes'.**"

Impa then placed her thumb and finger to her lips and played a haunting tune. Taking out his violin, Shadow repeated the notes until the **'Waltz of the Poes'** was engraved in his mind. The Waltz was gentle and carried a haunting tune suitable for the Poes that would come and answer his call. As Shadow finished the tune, he bowed before his ancestor.

"I thank you, Impa. I will use what I have learned for the liberation of Hyrule."

Impa smiled at her unusual descendent before speaking.

"I am glad. But there is only one thing I ask in return."

Shadow looked at the spirit and asked.

"What is it?"

"Do not tell your fellow champions about what I had told you about Ganondorf. You may tell them about your Sheikah blood or anything else. But not about _him._ It is far too early for any of them to worry about the puppet master. For now, let them worry about the puppet king. When he is dealt with, only then can you tell them of what I had told you and what you had seen."

Shadow wanted to retaliate, but Impa was right. Aside from the fact that Zant was a barrier between them and Ganondorf, the false king also held the Fused Shadows and the three Chaos Emeralds captive. And knowing the two of them, they would certainly seek a way into the castle before they were strong enough. And if that happens…

"I understand. Thank you again, Impa."

Impa nodded with a grateful smile. And as she vanished into the shadows of the afterlife, she spoke one last time.

"If you ever need any advice, use the medallion to call me. I wish you luck, Shadow of the Sheikah tribe."

Once Impa had vanished completely, Shadow walked back, not minding that his ears were currently being pierced and having lavender earrings placed by an unforeseen force. A Sheikah sign that he had become a man. Despite it finding hard to swallow, he believed Impa. Shadow never knew the other parts of the DNA that Dr. Gerald Robotnik had used to create him other than that of Black Doom. He could sense that Impa was telling the truth that he had been bred to become one of the heroes that Hyrule desperately needed.

Now the newly named Sheikah had two goals in his sight: Find the Mirror Shard and Chaos Emerald at Snowpeak, and winning Link's heart.

* * *

_Please review_


	22. The Yetis of Snowpeak Manor

**Chapter 22**

**The Yetis of Snowpeak Manor**

_Sorry for the wait. Been caught up in my newest fic: Ballad of the Dragonborn Four. _

_I do not own The Legend of Zelda, nor Sonic the Hedgehog._

* * *

Link, Sonic, and Shadow snuck out of Kakariko before dawn greeted the world in order to get a head start on their trek on the Snowpeak mountain range. They had a fine time resting in Kakariko, but unfortunately there was still no change in Ilia's memory. This was very distressing for the heroine of the trio. But hopefully it would come back upon their return.

Once they had reached Hyrule Field, Shadow called upon Midna to teleport them to the Zora River, where they would be safe from the curious eyes of the Zora. Once there, Sonic and Shadow reverted to their human forms while Link stayed as a wolf, having picked up the reekfish's scent the night before. As they entered the lower part of the domain, the men brought out their winter cloaks they had purchased the day before and put them on when they started walking into the tunnel that lead to the snowy plain.

To their relief, Ashei was long gone and they were able to get to work without her seeing. The first thing they did was to tie a safety line around their waists with two feet of line between each of them. After making sure that Sonic and Shadow were able to access their weapons and items while tied and bundled up, the two turned their gaze to their wolfish friend.

It didn't take much for Link to find the scent amongst all the snow, but she noticed that this trail was fresh. The mysterious mountain creature must have got a reekfish earlier that morning. With a tug, Link began to lead her pack up the mountain. Of course, climbing a mountain wasn't going easy in the first place. But when you add a blizzard and monsters that adapted well to the cold, THAT'S a challenge.

Hours passed and Link was still going strong. Sonic and Shadow, however, were turning into Popsicle anchors every mile they climb. Knowing that unless they find shelter, the heroes with the LESS fur would freeze to death. As they've reached the five-mile mark, the scent led them to a wall. At least, to the men's eyes. For Link, she could see the trail going UNDER the stone and, curious, began to dig into the earth.

"What is she doing?" Shadow asked as he struggled to keep warm.

Shadow remained silent as Link continued to dig. Eventually, she dug enough so that even the men could get through and pushed herself through the opening, forcing the others to go along with her. The other side held a cavern that kept out the freezing wind, giving our heroes shelter for a while. The only disadvantage was that there was no opening available to allow the starting of a fire.

This made not having both fur and quills suck for the men.

Link watched as the two shivered in their cloaks, struggling to keep warm. As much as they tried to keep it hidden, she could see the pair shivering from the cold. They were even too cold to shift into their Werehog forms and take advantage of their fur. This made Link and Midna wonder why the men didn't do so in the first place, since it would've been more helpful if all three of them took advantage of the shards Midna now keeps.

Giving off a sighing growl, Link approached the two and nestled herself between Sonic and Shadow. The two wondered why she was doing such a thing until the sensed the warmth of her fur. The warmth was too tantalizing for either man to even give of a snowflake kind of glare to each other and allowed their heads to fall gently onto the wolf's body. The warmth was almost similar to that of a relaxing hot spring and it even made the men nearly fall asleep had they forgot about the mirror shard that is somewhere in the mountains.

* * *

After an hour of rest and warmth, the trio was ready to go. Link followed the scent up the mountain while dragging Sonic and Shadow behind her. They still remained in human form as they continued their hike. Suddenly, something large and white caught their gazes.

"What's that?" Sonic whispered.

Curious, Link shifted into her human form and removed the rope around her waist. This, of course, caught the attention of the two men and the hidden imp.

"What are you doing?" Shadow whispered harshly as Link calmly walked up to the large figure.

Once she was close enough, the figure sensed something was near it and turned around. To the heroes' surprise, this was the giant that Ashei hastily drew. It was three times taller than them and was covered in white fur from head to tail. On its head was what they figured was a horse's saddle made into a sort of a hat. In its hand was a very big reekfish. With a loud, booming voice, the creature spoke.

"UH? WHOA-HO! I HEARD RUCUS, AND UH! JUST THREE HUMANS! I SEE HUMANS NOT OFTEN, UH? WHY HUMANS COME TO SNOWS?"

The creature then made a guess.

"YOU…ON SPIRITUAL JOURNEY? YOU LOOK FOR TRUE SELF?"

Recovering from the loudness, Link answered.

"Yes. We are."

The men knew that Link was lying, but whatever works to get to one of the mirror shards and a Chaos Emerald. So they remained silent as the giant laughed with such mirth.

"UH, UH, UH, UH, UH, UH, UH, UH! YOU LOOK FOR LONG TIME!"

The trio sweat-dropped as the giant continued.

"THAT WAS JOKE. YETIS JOKE TOO, UH. YOU LOOK FOR SOMETHING ELSE, UH? TELL TRUTH."

While the men remained confused at the Yeti's words, Link decided that maybe they should tell the truth about their 'visit.'

"Well, to be honest, we're looking for a piece of a large mirror and a gem with it. No bigger than that fish's eye."

As she spoke, Link made gestures concerning the size of the Mirror Shard and pointed to the reekfish for the size of the Chaos Emerald.

After taking all this in, and allowing the men to recover their hearing, the Yeti spoke again.

"…UH. YOU LOOK FOR MIRROR AND GEM IN SUCH FARAWAY PLACE."

He then laughed again, nearly sending Link flying.

"UH, UH, UH, UH, UH! WHY YOU NOT SAY SO BEFORE? BUT YOU MAKE GOOD CLIMB! AND YOU LUCKY TO MEET ME! I FOUND SHINY MIRROR PIECE AND SHINY STONE. SAME MIRROR AND GEM YOU LOOK FOR, UH?"

Having caught their attention, the trio nodded as Link spoke.

"Yes. Those must be the mirror shard and jewel we're looking for!"

"UH! YOU THREE COME TO HOUSE AND SEE YOURSELF!" The yeti replied as he held up the still-flapping reekfish. "I CAUGHT FISH. I MAKE YOU HOT MEAL, AT LEAST."

The sound of hot soup made the heroes' stomachs growl and their bodies shiver for the need of warmth.

"MY HOUSE FAR AWAY. WE SLIDE THERE, UH? DO LIKE YETO! COME!" said the yeti named Yeto.

Just then, Yeto turned around and punched a tree that was next to him. The impact didn't knock the tree down, but a large piece of ice fell to the ground and the gigantic yeti hopped onto the ice with one foot and began to slide down the mountainside. He whooped as he jumped over a ravine and disappeared into the snowy cliffs.

Seeing this, Sonic beamed with glee.

"I think I like that guy."

Shadow softly scoffed, grateful that his ears would be spared from Yeto's loud voice for a while. He then approached the tree and body-slammed it, causing another large chunk of ice to fall.

"As the saying goes, 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do.'"

Link didn't know what Shadow was talking about at first, but she got the idea as Sonic slammed into the tree and got himself a piece of ice.

Link followed suit, but unlike the men, who were standing on their ice like snowboards, Link chose to sit on hers like a sled. Of the three of them, she was more nervous of the snowy track. Seeing this, Sonic placed a hand on Link's shoulder and spoke with a gentle smile.

"Don't worry, Link. We'll help you along the way."

Even though the blue-haired man's words were comforting, Link's nerves remained as solid as the ice she was sitting on.

With a smirk larger than the last, Sonic spoke as he pushed his iceboard.

"Last one there's a rotten egg!"

With an equal smirk, Shadow push off as Link pushed herself last. It took Shadow's help for Link to cross the ravine, but once they passed that, the ride became more enjoyable to the heroine. As they sled for miles, Link's whimpers of worry slowly turned into joyous laughter as for once the men grinned at each other, silently congratulating the other on a job well done in this venture.

But that didn't mean they weren't still rivals for Link's affection.

After many twists and turns and near-death experiences involving trees, rickety wooden bridges, and steep cliffs; the group of heroes finally made it to the end of the trail. Shadow came in first smugly, Sonic in second, and Link in dead last.

Although the home that Yeto spoke of was a lot different that they could imagine. Instead of a cave, like they originally thought, the yeti's home was an old, grey mansion long absent of human or Hylian life. Midna came out of Shadow's shadow and spoke with just as much shock as the others.

"Here? What's with this guy? He's got a nice place…for a beast-man."

"_**I'll say**_." The heroic trio agreed as they entered the mansion.

* * *

Midna was right. The mansion was a nice place. Despite some falling timber and ice covered floors in some spots, it was in good shape. And to boot, a fragment of the Mirror of Twilight and a Chaos Emerald was somewhere in this place. There was a dual staircase that leads to an upper section of the mansion, but both stairs were broken before they could reach the level. Sonic whistled.

"Well. I'm impressed."

"Obviously, this mansion was built by someone else long ago. I can understand why the yeti calls this place home." Shadow spoke as he looked at the architecture.

"At least we're out of that freezing blizzard. Had we stayed longer and my tail would've frozen off." Link replied as she tugged her winter clock.

They looked ahead from the entrance across the foyer to see a door with a lit torch on each side.

"I guess that's where we got to go." Link replied.

In agreement, the trio walked to the door and passed through it one by one.

The next room was a parlor with a fire going in the fireplace across the room. There were some furniture that remained as well as some wall décor. Sitting next to the fire was another yeti, but this one was different. It could be told that she was female and she was smaller than Yeto, possibly their height if not a foot taller. Her fur coat looked like a harlequin sweater in white, blue, and pink and there were no visible arms. Her face looked more human-like than Yeto's.

The sound of the door was enough to surprise her, though weakly.

"Who…?"

Her voice was surprisingly soft for a yeti. Then again, the heroes only knew one yeti. She then gave a soft cough before she spoke calmly.

"Sorry. I have sickness, uh. Come closer, uh."

Not sensing any threat, the trio approached the yeti. The she-yeti remained silent for a moment, taking her time to examine the three before she spoke again.

"You cute little humans. Husband told me you come. You want to look at mirror and pretty stone, uh?"

Link nodded for the three of them.

"Yes."

"My husband found them, but pretty things, uh. But…since I get mirror and stone, I get sick, and then bad monsters appear. So many bad things since mirror and gem. So we lock bedroom on third floor where mirror hangs, uh. Pretty stone too."

"But…is there a way we can see the mirror and stone?" The yeti nodded at Link's question. "I tell you where key is."

She then gestured to what appeared to be a map on a nearby table.

Nodding, Link allowed Shadow to go to the table and take the map. The yeti spoke as Shadow showed her the map.

"Fever makes head blurry, but…They probably here in one of three rooms."

Nodding, Shadow marked the three different places on the map. Once the symbols were drawn in, Shadow returned to his fellow heroes as the yeti continued to speak.

"But right now…can't even get up. Why don't you bring key to me?"

She then looked to a door that was behind where she was sitting.

"Start with door there."

Thanking the yeti, the trio entered the requested door, only to be surprised further at the sight of Yeto in the next room, stirring a large cauldron.

"UH! YOU!"

As the surprised trio approached the yeti, Yeto spoke as he stirred his cauldron.

"WIFE… LOOK BAD, UH? NOT HEALTHY SINCE MIRROR AND STONE. SO I MAKE SOUP FOR HER. FISH FROM ZORA VILLAGE ARE MOST NUTRITIOUS!"

_"So that's why he's been fishing at Zora's Domain." _The trio thought in unison as Yeto noticed their weariness.

"YOU TIRED, UH? YOU HAVE SOME. IT GIVE YOU ENERGY!"

After having a cup of the fish soup to warm themselves, having it a pleasing taste, the trio thanked Yeto and while Sonic left entered another room attached to the kitchen, Link and Shadow backtracked to the foyer to head off in the other direction. This room was freezing cold with crates of various sizes and material. Clutching at his cloak, Sonic spoke, his breath becoming visible with the chill.

"I'm gonna go on a limb and say this is where the yeti's store food?"

After seeing another door, Sonic continued onward, only to find that the door lead to a frozen courtyard, with ice monsters and walls to boot.

"Perfect. Just perfect." Sonic mumbled as he continued to look for another door.

* * *

After Shadow entered a second door that lead to another part of the manor, Link was about to enter the third door when a voice stopped her.

"Dark One… He Green One's husband? Or is Blue One? "

If there was a need of a new shade of red, Link would have provided with her blush.

"Wha-what did you say?"

Though weak, the she-yeti answered with a smile on her face.

"Which one Green One's husband?"

Still red, Link spoke, stumbling at her words.

"N-no. Shadow, the Dark One, and Sonic, the Blue One, are not my husbands. I'm not married."

But the she-yeti didn't frown. Instead, she kept smiling.

"They adore Green One. Yetta can tell. They act like Yeto when met Yetta. Made Yetta wonder if one Green One's husband."

Link blushed redder.

"Oh! They don't think of me like that."

"What Green One think of men?" Yetta asked.

Link was about to answer when she realized something: what DID she think about Sonic and Shadow? Before, she considered them friends and fellow questers. But after remembering how she felt when she was at the entrance to the Arbiter's Grounds with Sonic made her think.

"I…I don't know." Link admitted. "Why do you ask?"

Yetta answered, her eyes focused on the door ahead of Link.

"That way lead to house chapel. Thought came if Green One was bride."

Link blushed.

She never thought of herself as a bride.

* * *

_Before I continue for the next chapter, I need to ask: Which one do you think should get the Ball and Chain? Sonic? Shadow? Or Link?_


	23. The Mirror's Curse

**Chapter 23**

**The Mirror's Curse**

_Hi, everyone! After months of Writer's blocks, I've finally officially updated! _

_For those of you wondering, the last time I update was because I was riled up by rumors of SOPA coming back. _

_Also, aside from that, I've had reviews that are telling me that Link is a boy in the games and it makes me mad because I already knew that. The people who say otherwise have no imagination and by making me mad, the fuse that I have for Twilight Princess goes out and causes everyone problems. _

_Also, I plan on editing the fic from 'The Lakebed Temple' onward. I just can't see the Love Triangle anymore. Sorry, Shadow fans._

_But for better words, I dedicate this chapter to **Robin Williams**, who was a great actor and a avid Legend of Zelda fan to the end.** R.I.P, Robin Williams.**_

_I do not own the Legend of Zelda or Sonic the Hedgehog._

* * *

_With Sonic…_

It had only been a mere minute since the trio dispersed in the yetis' mansion and Sonic was beginning to dislike the cold. Having passed Yeto once again, the blue-haired man entered the only other door in the kitchen. Like he expected, this room was a very large pantry, filled with various containers of food and other necessities that the man was unsure if they were usable to the yetis.

The only thing of interest to him was the center floor. The stone tiles had been worn or torn away leaving a small ice rink behind. At the lowermost point of the pond, a pressure switch stood out. Careful, Sonic stepped onto the switch and instead of a trap, the door to his left became unbarred.

"Looks like that's the way to go."

But as Sonic stepped off the switch, the bars returned, hindering the ex-hedgehog's progress.

He looked to the pressure plate and frowned. Apparently, the switch needed constant pressure in order to keep the door open. Unfortunately, there were no barrels for him to roll over or crates to pick up. He could try and use his speed to get to the door in time, but there was also a risk of him being locked out of the room.

Looking around, Sonic took notices of two iron crates sitting on the ice. Though they were obviously too heavy for him to lift, Sonic figured he could use the ice to his advantage. He tested this as he pushed with full force on one of the blocks, the action causing the crate to move.

After a lot of trial and error, Sonic was able to get one of the iron crates onto the pressure plate, allowing him all-access to his section of the mansion. Opening one of the doors, Sonic tugged at his cloak as the cold wind snuck into a frozen corridor. Looking around, Sonic found only two ways to get around other than the way back. The first was a hole in the wall that only Link could dig under. The other was blocked by ice.

"Good thing Midna handed us the shards before we split up. Just gotta stay out of the yetis' sight until I see her again."

Sonic spoke as he reached into his satchel and pulled out his dark shard. With a swift push to the forehead, Sonic implanted the shard into his body and was back in his Were-hog form. After making sure he had a strong stance, Sonic began to punch the ice wall, chipping away the ice until the ice was cleared.

Of course, like with everything else during their quest, the ice wasn't natural. It was colder to the touch and at the other side were a few drifting balls of ice. Ice with red eyes, that is. They didn't seem to be attacking him, so Sonic avoided them until he got to the door on the other side of the hall.

Sonic passed through two more rooms of ice creatures until he found the chest on the map. Of course, he had to fight off ice-men with thick icicle spears in order to get to it. But when he opened the chest, a look of confusion struck the Were-Hog.

"A…pumpkin?"

Yes. Inside the chest was not the key to the bedroom where the Mirror and the Chaos Emerald were, but an ordinary pumpkin.

"Well, she did say that her memory was foggy, so I shouldn't be too surprised."Sonic muttered to himself as he made his way back to the pantry, the pumpkin under one of his massive arms.

Once he reached the pantry, Sonic placed the pumpkin on the ground and pulled out the Ocarina of Time. Careful so as not to crush in instrument with his strong hands, he played Saria's Song. Like before, it connected him to Link and Shadow, who immediately sensed his presence.

"Sonic?" Link asked.

"Yeah. It's me. I need to borrow Midna for a moment. Used the shard she gave me." Sonic replied.

Hearing a sigh, he could see Midna coming out of Link's shadow.

"Very well, although I wish you would have called upon me in a warmer place." The imp complained.

Sonic gave a toothy grin of embarrassment, "Next time, Midna. Next time."

Once he disconnected from the song, Sonic waited a few minutes before a small shadow slipped under the door and approached him. Midna popped out and as promised, she removed the shard from Sonic's head, reverting him back to his human shape before returning to Link at the opposite end of the manor.

Upon returning to the kitchen, Sonic handed Yeto the pumpkin and watched as the giant cut up the gourd and placed it into the stew. As the yeti continued to work on the soup, Sonic returned to the main parlor where Yeta was resting and warmed himself by the fire. Since his path was a dead end, he decided to wait until one of the others came back and would join them with the third.

In the meantime, it felt good to be beside a warm fire.

* * *

_With Shadow…_

About the same time as Sonic was solving the pantry puzzle, Shadow found himself in a large, snow covered courtyard in the center of the mansion. There were two openings that lead to Sonic's and Link's sections of the mansion, so that left him to go straight, according to the map.

Unfortunately, the path to where the key might be was blocked by a giant snow immobile snow creature. Shadow carefully approached the creature, only to back away as is shot an icy breath at him. Once he was further away, Shadow found that there was one way to get to his destination without becoming a Popsicle: a large cannon that was set up in the middle of the courtyard. Upon examination, Shadow cursed as he realized this cannon was missing something.

"Damn it. No cannonballs."

Since Link had Midna this time and Sonic was the only one who knew Saria's Song, Shadow had to think of another way to get through without freezing. Knowing he had little option, Shadow proceeded to the door on his right, where he found a cannonball leftover.

Taking the heavy metal ball, Shadow returned to the cannon and placed the cannonball. Once done, he aimed the cannon at the monster in front of him. Taking on additional notice, Shadow dug into his satchel and pulled out a bomb. After lighting it, he placed it in an opening where the fuse should be. Keeping a grip, Shadow watched as the cannon launched the metal sphere and the ice monster shattered into tiny pieces.

Then, just as Shadow was getting ready to press on, a whistle caught his attention. Turning to the right where the sound was coming from, he saw that it was Link whistling to him from the other side of the grated door. Waving him down, Link pointed upward. Following Link's finger and saw a second snow monster, this one also was blocking a path.

Understanding his companion's motions, Shadow reloaded the cannon and fired at the snow monster at the top of the ladder that lead to the upper level, shattering it, too. With the monster gone, Link smiled.

"Thanks, Shadow."

Shadow nodded as he walked forward to his door while Link continued. Shadow was never much for words and that trait was one that remained. Besides, he had a key to find.

Upon entering his designated door, Shadow found it leading into a hallway with two suits of armor standing at attention in the center of the path and a door at the other end. Above he could see that the ceiling had some sort of fencing and the walls were barred. Looking past the armor, Shadow muttered to himself. "Guess there is only one way to go."

You know the saying 'some things are too good to be true?' Well in this case, a quiet, empty hall was one of those things. Because when Shadow passed the armor and reached for the door, a grated gate slammed down into place, blocking his path. And just when things couldn't get any worse, the armor behind him gets struck by something hard, nearly flinging the pieces at the dark man.

Drawing _Sanguis Daemonis_ and his shield, Shadow found himself gazing across the room at the second suit of armor. Much like everything other time during his stay in Hyrule, Shadow found that he was facing another monster. This one was smart enough to have on a suit of armor and in his hands was a large ball and chain. Silent, the creature began to swing the weapon and slowly stalked towards his opponent.

Shadow cursed as he looked for a way to fight this beast. But with the ball and chain swinging about, there was no way he could get around. Looking up, Shadow received an idea. Replacing his shield, Shadow brought out his Clawshot and fired at the grating behind the creature. Pressing the button, he was then pulled over the creature, barely avoiding the weapon as the monster threw it at him. Shadow unhooked himself from the ceiling just as he saw that the monster's backside was bare.

Swiftly, he stabbed the monster in the back.

Shadow then backed up as the creature staggered in front of him, _Sanguis Daemonis _imbedded in its back. Shortly, it gave into its wounds and fell forward, disintegrating into dust like the rest of the monsters in this world.

With the monster's defeat, the grate was removed from the door and as Shadow went to retrieve his sword, he saw that the ball and chain was left behind. Pondering for a moment, Shadow gave a smirk as he picked up the weapon and placed it into his satchel.

"Better take this. Who knows when we'll need it?"

Sure enough, once he passed through the door, he found that half of the room was encased in thick ice. Sheathing his sword, Shadow brought out the ball and chain, swung it around until he was at the desired speed, and allowed the iron ball to fly into the ice, shattering it. Returning the weapon to his satchel, Shadow walked to the newly accessible part of the room where the chest he was searching for waited for him.

He opened the chest to find…

"Cheese? All of that for some cheese?" Shadow groaned.

I was glad no one of G.U.N or Rouge saw him at this state. The last thing he wanted was his embarrassment to be noticed. Calming himself, Shadow rationalized that the trio took a different path each and while it wasn't the key he was looking for, at least he could put the cheese to good use.

Upon his return to the parlor, Shadow found Sonic warming himself by the fire with Yeta. "Any luck on your end?" the blue-haired man asked. Shadow shook his head.

"I just found some food and…something useful."

Shadow was hesitant with introducing his new weapon in front of the ailing yeti and much to Shadow's surprise, Sonic understood.

"Just hand the food you've found to Yeto and he'll put it in the soup. I've already handed him the pumpkin I've found."

This relieved Shadow that he wasn't the only one who found food on their route. Without another word, Shadow went into the kitchen and handed the cheese he found to Yeto. The giant yeti immediately dropped the cheese into the soup, already making it smell good to Shadow's nose.

Without another word, Shadow returned to the parlor and started to warm himself by the fire as well, now believing that Link may have chosen the right path.

* * *

_Link…_

Both Sonic and Shadow were right about that. After entering her door, Link traversed down the corridors and checked every room for anything that could help her and her friends. By the time she had motioned Shadow to help her out at the ladder, Midna had met up with Sonic to help him back to his normal state.

Once the ice monster was out of the way, Link climbed up the ladder and entered the immediate room. And just as Yeta had promised, this door lead to the mansion's chapel. It was a large stone room with thirty-two pews facing a wall with a door in the center. A red rug, though faded by time, still gave the room some color. The glass windows at each side of the altar's doors showed the candlelight from the other side.

And of course on her side were the same ice-stick monsters that Sonic had fought when he found the pumpkin.

It didn't take much for her to take them out. Their flimsy bodies, despite being made of ice, were no match for her swordsmanship and the Master Sword in her hand. Just some swift slices was enough to take care of the monsters right then. Once the last of the monsters was finished off, she made her way down the aisle.

Consequently, she thought about what Yeta had said and immediately began to blush as a daydream entered her mind. With each step she walked, her mind went onto the Ordanian weddings she went to years ago, such as Malo and Talo's parents, Rusl and Uli's, even Beth's parents.

The tradition was, of course, to have the wedding in front of Ordana's spring. It was very beautiful during springtime and that was when weddings would take place. Link began to chuckle as she remembered after each wedding, she and Ilia would talk about becoming brides one day.

Of course, Ilia would be dying for her prince to come and sweep her off her feet. Link, however, never thought much about getting married. But that hadn't kept the idea out of her mind. Walking to the altar, she imagined herself in a simple wedding dress with a flower crown on her head, walking towards the altar where her groom, whoever he was, as she braced herself in starting a new chapter of her life.

Of course, the daydream had to come to an end once she entered the altar room and found the chest in front of her and frowned.

Over a week ago, she would've experience a normal life. Just heading goats, entertain the kids, talking with Ilia. And who knew? Maybe one day she would find herself someone to give her life to.

But that was nothing but a memory now. All of the terrible things that had happened changed all of that. The attack at the spring, the Twilight, Zant, and hearing about the demon king Ganondorf. Those were just the highlights of her adventure with Sonic and Shadow. It was deafening compared to the simple life she once led.

And even if they defeat Zant, there was no way she could ever go back to living the way she was.

Shaking herself out of those thoughts, Link opened the chest and found the key she was looking for. It was about the size and had the appearance of a hand mirror, the handle shaped like a heart.

Now that the key was in her hands, she and her friends could now get at that Mirror shard.

Upon exiting the chapel, Link found herself standing face to face with Sonic, Shadow, and Yeta, who was looking better than the last time she had seen her.

"Oh! You safe, uh! I drink husband's soup, feel much better, uh. So I come with others to find you."

She then noticed the key in Link's hand.

"You found key, uh! Good! Good! Bedroom right above us. I take you there, uh."

With that said, Yeta began to walk the ramp to Link's left and the three heroes followed.

As they walked, the three decided to have a quiet conversation.

"So? How did it go at your ends?" Link asked.

Tugging his cloak, Sonic spoke.

"I found a pumpkin. Shadow found some cheese and a new weapon."

Shadow remained silent, leaving the pair to wonder what he was thinking about. Perhaps he was thinking about the Mirror shard and the Chaos Emerald.

Leaving such questions aside, Link looked onto Yeta as she whispered to the men.

"Is she really well?" Sonic nodded.

"Yeah. Turns out the ingredients that we found made the soup we had better. We tried it before we left to find you and we agree that it was a lot better than the first time we had it. We even saved you some in one of our canteens."

Link made a mental note to try the soup later upon reaching the end of the ramp and standing in front of a door with a large, heart-shaped lock on it. Upon unlocking it, Link stood back as the lock and chains fell as Yeta spoke softly once again.

"Thank you. You come inside…"

With Yeta's approval, the trio entered the bedroom. Much to their surprise, the bedroom looked like it had been untouched since the previous owner. The furniture was also well-preserved despite the rest of the mansion and the room itself was massive. The ceiling looked like it was a mile high and the floor looked like it was meant to be a ballroom at one point.

"Please… This way, uh." Yeta beckoned them as she made her way across the room.

Nodding, the trio followed the yeti. As they walked they found a cyan gem nestled on a nearby table. It was the Chaos Emerald. With Yeta's permission, Shadow took the emerald and placed it in his inventory as Sonic and Link approached a broken piece of glass with strange etchings on it.

The first of the missing shards of the Mirror of Twilight.

As she spoke, Yeta gazed at the mirror shard, immediately sending a sense of dread in the pits of the heroes' stomachs.

"Here…mirror. You look at it, uh…"

The sense of dread grew as Yeta spoke again in a trance-like tone.

"Uh… So pretty… Pretty… Uh… So pretty…"

Just then, everything became dim and Yeta began to twitch.

"Pretty… Pretty…mirror… Lovely…"

Just then, Yeta turned around and her pretty features changed. Her eyes became bloody red disks, her skin dark as ash, and her teeth becoming visible fangs. She shouted in an unholy tone.

"NOT TAKE MIRROR!"

Suddenly, the windows shattered and the cold swarmed in, surrounding Yeta until the entire room was frozen in ice. Yeta herself was encased in a giant ice egg-shape. Once again, a voice gave out Yeta's new title.

"_**Twilit Ice Mass: Blizzeta"**_

Immediately, a sense of familiarity overcame the trio. This was exactly like what happened to Darbus in the Gorons' mine. Only this time, it was the Mirror shard that corrupted Yeta. The situation once again became a desperate rescue.

As the egg began to slide towards them, Sonic called out to his friends.

"Guys? Do you think if we defeat her, we can save her?"

Link slid away from the ice egg as she gave her answer.

"It might be our only choice! But first, we have to break that ice!"

Shadow immediately came up with the solution by pulling the ball and chain out of his satchel and began to swing.

"Keep her attention on you two! I'll handle the ice!"

Seeing Shadow's weapon, the duo complied until the ball stuck the egg down the egg enough times to shatter it. Unfortunately, Yeta wasn't done as she gave out a garbled cry and summoned ice crystals, one to keep her safe, the rest to take out her enemies. Rising above them, the trio realized what she was going to do.

Using the ice-covered floor to their advantage, the trio continued their plan with. Once the ice shards were down, Shadow used his ball and chain to strike at Yeta's protective shell twice. The second time was the charm as the force of the impact slammed Yeta against the wall. A shrill cry and the ice melting and evaporation around them signaled that Yeta was back to normal.

Removing his cloak, Shadow covered the Mirror shard with it and wrapped it tightly.

"Better keep it covered until we gather the rest of the pieces."

Sonic and Link nodded in agreement as Midna reappeared from Link's shadow.

"Well, we have two mirror shards now. Only two more left."

But then, Midna bore a saddened look as she looked at Yeta's fallen form.

"Still… I feel bad about the way we treated that girl."

She then frowned at the covered Mirror in Shadow's arms.

"To think the Mirror of Twilight has the power to change people like that…"

She then clenched her fists.

"This world…ALL worlds…can be cruel."

She then summoned a Twilight Portal.

"Let's hurry up and collect the rest of those pieces, everyone. We have to, before more innocent creatures have to endure the suffering this poor girl did."

Those words surprised the trio. When they met, they'd never thought of Midna saying such selfless and saddening words. But now… Now it was clear as crystal. Since the disappearance of Princess Zelda, Midna was changing. Looking back to Yeta, Link spoke up.

"Sonic, Shadow. You two go on ahead. I'm gonna check on Yeta."

The men didn't say anything. Just nodded in understanding as they approached the portal. Sonic than spoke.

"We'll meet up at Faron's spring. I think the next shard is in the forest somewhere. An ancient grove, remember?"

Nodding, Link bid farewell to the two and went to check on Yeta once the two vanished. But as she approached to check on the she-yeti, Link had to jump back as Yeto came in and saw his fallen wife. Ignoring everything else, including Link, Yeto made a mad dash towards his wife, hollering in pain. To Link's relief, Yeta spoke in her soft voice once again.

"Uh… Uh… What… What wrong with me?"

Gently, Yeto helped Yeta to sit up with one hand as he spoke.

"VERY STRANGE… YOU JUST DREAMING, uh?"

Yeta's eyes widened as she looked to where the Mirror shard once was.

"Yeto! Mirror you gave…"

But to both female's surprise, Yeto shook his head as he spoke to Yeta again.

"FORGET MIRROR, YETA… NO. LOOK INTO EYES OF YETO… LOOK IN REFLECTION OF YETO'S EYES. THERE TRUE BEAUTY!"

He then picked up Yeta as if she were an infant.

"WHO NEED MIRROR?"

Hearing these sweet words, Yeta smiled warmly.

"My love, uh!"

Link's own warm smile grew as the two yetis embraced, deciding to leave right away once Midna returned. Placing a finger to her own lips, Link walked quietly to the portal and allowed Midna to spirit her away.

But not before giving one last glace at the couple before returning to the quest, still smiling.

"_Perhaps one day, someone would say something like that to me. Someday."_

* * *

_Again, sorry for the stupid SOPA message. _

_Please review._


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